The document discusses various concepts related to social groups and processes. It defines social groups as collections of human beings brought together through social relationships and common goals. Social groups are classified in various ways such as primary and secondary groups, in-groups and out-groups. Social processes that occur within groups include cooperation, competition, conflict, accommodation, and interaction. Cooperation involves working together for common interests while competition is a struggle over limited resources. Conflict is a challenge between individuals or groups, and accommodation is the adjustment of hostile parties. Social interaction is how individuals influence each other through group involvement and relationships.

1. Social groups and
processes
Mr. Sushil Humane
MSN Rn

2. Meaning of
Social
Groups
• In its elementary sense, a group “is a
number of units of anything in close
proximity to one another”.
• Social group is a collection of human beings
who are brought into social relationship with
one another with a common goal under a
common set of codes.
• It may be a pair, number of persons or even
a collection of millions of people ex. Sports
club, a political party, a family etc.
• Social relationships needs – reciprocity –
mutual awareness – consciousness of joint
interaction.

3. Definition of Social Groups
• William – Social group is a given aggregate of people playing inter-
related roles and recognized by themselves or others as a unit of
interactions.
• Horton and Hunt – “Groups are aggregate or categories of people
who have a consciousness of membership and of interaction”.
• Ogburn and Nimkoff – “Whenever two or more individual come
together and influence one another, they may be said to constitute a
social group”.

4. Characteristics of Social Group
• Reciprocal Relations
• Sense of Unity
• ‘We’ feeling
• Common interests
• Similar behaviour
• Group norms

5. Characteristics of Social Group
• Reciprocal relations: The member of a group are inter-related to each
other.
• A gathering of persons forms a social group when they are
interrelated.
• Sense of unity: The members of a group are united by a sense of unity
and a feeling of sympathy.
• We-feeling: The members of a group help each other and defend
their interest collectively.

6. Characteristics of Social Group
• Common interests: The interest and ideal of a group are common.
• Similar Behaviour: The members of a group behave in a similar way of
behaviour.
• Group Norms: Every group has its own rules and norms which the
members are supposed to follow.

7. Classification of Social Groups
Simmel considered size as a criterion for classifying groups.
• Small size group
• Large size group
Dwight Sanderson suggested a three fold classification of social groups
by structure.
• Involuntary group
• Voluntary group
• Delegate group

8. Classification of Social Groups
Cooley classified groups on the basis of kind of contacts.
• Primary group
• Secondary group
F.H. Giddings classified group into
• Genetic (involuntarily. Ex: family)
• Congregate (voluntarily. Ex: union)

9. Classification of Social Groups
George Hasen classifies groups one the basis of their relations to other
group into
• Unsocial group (does not participate in large society. ex: Tribe)
• Pseudo-social group (mix with all for own gain. ex: common)
• Anti-social group (destroys public property)
• Pro-social group (welfare of the people)
Miller divided social groups into
• Horizontal groups
• Vertical groups

10. Classification of Social Groups
Sumner made distinction between an
• In-group
• The groups with the individual in identifies himself are his ingroup, his
family or tribe or sex or college or occupation or religion. Usually
expressed in the contrast between “they” and “us”. Every group they
are communists; we are Hindu, they are Muslims, they are others not
my people etc.,
• Out-group Its opposite of in-group

11. Classification of Social Groups
Charles A Ellwood distinguished among.
• Involuntary and voluntary
• Institutional and non-institutional
• Temporary and permanent
Leopold classified
• Crowds
• Groups
• Abstract collectives
Park and Burgess distinguished
• Territorial
• Non-territorial

12. Primary & Secondary Groups
Cooley classifies social group into Primary group and Secondary group
• Primary group is a small group which a
• small in number,
• direct contact,
• face to face relations,
• mutual aim,
• common goals and companionship.

13. Characteristics of a Primary Group
• Physical
• Small proximity Size
• Stability
• Similarity
• Limited of background self-interest
• Intensity of Shared interests

14. Characteristics of a Primary Group
• Physical proximity: In order that relations of the people may be close,
it is necessary that their contacts also should be close.
• Small size: Relationship can be intimate and personal only in a small
group.
• Stability: To promote intimacy of relationship, the primary group
should be stable to some extent:

15. Characteristics of a Primary Group
• Similarity of background: The members of a primary group must be
not only close and near to each other but also approximately equally
experienced and intelligent.
• Limited self-interest: The restricted common interest must
predominate in their minds.
• Intensity of shared interests: In a primary group the common interest
is shared by every member and by being shared by all the interest
acquires a new significance, a new emphasis and new valuation.

16. Importance of Primary Group
• For the individual: The first things to be impressed about group is that
it is a medium through which we learn culture, use culture and
change culture. The group is an important factor in shaping the
personality of the individual.
• For the society: Help in the socialization of the individuals and
maintain social control over them. The attitudes of sympathy, love,
tolerance, mutual help and sacrifice which provides this cementing
force.

17. Secondary Group
• Secondary group is a large group like a city, nation, political party,
corporation and labour union etc.,
• Here human contacts become superficial and undefined.
• He communicate with them by such indirect means as the written
word. No face to face relations.
• H.T. Mazumdar – “When face-to-face contacts are not present in the
relations of member, we may call that is secondary group”.

18. Characteristics of Secondary Group
• Main Characteristics of secondary group
• Formal and impersonal relations
• Large in size
• Option of membership
• Active and Inactive members
• Relations – no face to face
• Formal rules
• Individuals status
• Goal orientation

19. Importance of Secondary Groups
• The primary group have an important place in a simple and small
society. But in modern era the trend is towards secondary groups.
• The changing trends of modern society man now depends for his
needs more on secondary groups then primary groups.
• Efficiency (the emphasis is on getting the job done).
• Open Channels of Opportunity.
• Wider Outlook.

20. Difference between Primary & Secondary
Groups
Primary Group
• Meaning: Groups which are
characterized by face to-face
relations, mutual aid are primary
group. Ex: family, friends etc.,
• Nature of Social Relations: social
relations are face-to-face, direct
intimate, personal, non-partisan
in character.
Secondary Group
• Groups which provide
experience lacking in intimacy
are secondary group. Ex: political
parties, unions etc.,
• Social relations are indirect, imp
ersonal, contractual, specialized,
and more economic nature.

21. Difference between Primary &
Secondary Groups
Primary group
• Group structure: its very imformal.
The group is not very much
organized in the modern sense.
• Durability: group are relatively
durable.
• Effects on personality: the group
has a long-lasting influence upon
the personality.
• Nature of group control:
informal means of social control.
Secondary group
• Group structure is formal the
organisation of the group is
carefully planned and worked out.
• Gorup may be temporary or
permanent
• The impact of group on
the persoanlity of the members in
rather limited.
• Formal means of control.

22. Difference between Primary &
Secondary Groups
Primary Group
• Size: Primary groups are smaller in
size
• Physical proximity: Group are
confirmed to a small geoghraphic
area.
• Communication: It’s not only direct
but also quick and effective
• Group interest: Interest of members
are not specific but general.
• Nature of co-operation: Co-operation
is direct.
Secondary Group
• Secondary groups are relatively
bigger in size.
• Groups are not characterized bu
physical area
• Members are spread over a vast
area direct communication in
different
• Interest of members are more
specific
• Co-operation is mostly indirect.

23. In-group V/s. Out-group
• Sumner’s classification between in-group and out- group.
• The individual belong to number of groups which are his in-groups.
• All other groups to which he does not belong are his out groups.
• Family, tribe, the college are examples of ingroups.

24. In-group V/s. Out-group
• In in-groups their relationships towards each other they display:
• Sense of belonging co-operation goodwill mutual help solidarity
feeling of brotherhood and readiness to sacrifice
• In-group signifies their unity by the word “we” and their distinctions
from the others by applying to those the term “they”.

25. Crowd
• The crowd may be defined as a collection of individuals united
temporarily and in close proximity to each other.
• Their objects may be diverse kinds.
• It is an unorganized manifestation.
• After the people collected in a garden for a picnic are called crowd.
• A crowd is quickly created and quickly dissolved.

26. Definition of Crowd
• MacIver – “it as a physically compact aggregation of human being
brought into direct, temporary and un-organized contact with one
another”.
• Kimball and Young – “a crowd is a gathering of a considerable number
of persons around a center or point of common attraction”.
• Lundberg – “a crowd is a temporary collection of persons who react
to a common focus of attention, and engage in spontaneous
interaction.

27. Characteristics of Crowd
• Anonymity – because its large and temporary.
• Narrow attention –one or two things at one time.
• Suggestibility – crowd are not open to conviction.
• Credulity – easily believe others words.
• Low mental level – ideas not deep and wide.
• Emotional – crowd are highly emotional.
• Irresponsibility – crowd sense very poor of it.

28. Mob
• The crowd is always a transitory and unstable organization.
• Thus a group of students recreating by the seashore are an aggregate;
if they hear a film actor they become a crowd.
• But if the actor makes insulting remarks to the country they may
become unruly and turn into a mob.

29. Mob
• Mob is a violent group it concern more emotional people, they are
creating problem they don’t maintain a peace .
• They have some struggle mind.
• Ex: Caste violence and industrial revaluation.

30. Public
• The common speech the term ‘public’ is often confused with people
but in reality public is a part of the people.
• The public is merely a psychological group who think and feel about
social issues.
• They are diffused, and are found in far off places.
• They are psychologically united due to some social issues.

31. Definition of Pubic
• Kingsley Davis – “A dispersed group; it is a feeling and thinking group”.
• Schettler – “The public is a group of individuals who are united
together by common interest or objectives”.
• Horton & Hunt – “A public is a scattered group of people who share
an interest in a particular topic”.

32. Characteristics of Public
• Public is disposed group
• It is a psychological group. It thinks, feels, and experiences certain
common things.
• In public, all people do not have unanimous opinion.
• The members of the public communicate each other through mass
media.
• Public is an organized group.
• There is no personal contact in public.

33. Audience
• This is a time of audiences as there are meetings all over, including
class rooms, pubic meetings, etc.,
• This is also a psychological important group.
• It is a group that sees, listens, and thinks.
• They follow some rules and regulations.
• They don’t have any leader but the organizer control for all the
participants or people. Ex: theater, programme etc.,

34. Definition of Audience
• V.V. Akolkar – “An audience is a temporary assembly whose members
have gathered for a definite and similar purpose, each one come to
the spot on account of his individual interest”.
• Some of the important traits.
• It is an aggregate of people at a particular place and time.
• It has a pre-determined purpose.
• It has certain norms, and so, there is some sort of discipline too.

35. Classification of Audience
• Information audience: seeking audience. e.g. class room, TV hall etc.,
• Conversational audience: discussion audience.
• Recreational audience: we have cinema, sports etc.,
• Religious audience: religious worship, as in churches, temples and
mosques.
• Political audience: audience are addressed usually by political leaders.

36. Social Interaction and Social Processes
• Man is a socio-cultural being and society is necessary for man.
• They always live in various groups and associations.
• As members of this group they act and behave in a certain manner.
• This behaviour of individual is affected by the behaviour of others.
• This behaviour we call as a social interaction.
• This interaction is essential of social life.
• Without interaction there would be no social life.

37. Definition of Social Interaction & Processes
• Dawson and Gettys – “Social interaction is the process where by man
interpreted the minds of each other”.
• Eldredge and Merril – “Social interaction is the general processes
where by two or more persons are in meaningful contact as a result
of which their behaviour in modified, however slightly”.
• Ginsberg - “Social processes means the various modes of interaction
between individuals or groups including co-operation and conflict,
social differentiation and integration, development, arrest and decay”.

38. Social Interaction and Social Processes
• Social Interaction and Social Processes takes place in the forms of
• Co-operation
• Competition
• Conflicts
• Accommodation
• Assimilation
• Isolation

39. Co-operation
• Co-operation is an Integrating activity it generally means that working
together in the pursuit of common interest.
• Merril and Eldredge – “Co-operation is a form of social interaction
wherein two or more persons work together to gain a common
interest”.
• Fairchild – “Co-operation is the process by which individual or groups
combine their effort in a more or less organized way for the
attainment of common objective”.
• Green – “Co-operation is the continuous and common endeavor
(attempt) of two or more persons to perform a task or to reach a goal
that is commonly cherished”.

40. Types of Co-operation
Five Types co-operation:
• Direct Co-operation: under this category are included those activities
in which co-operating individuals doing directly like things together,
that is,
• Moving a pile of stones, pushing a motor car of the mud, playing
together, worshipping together etc., Indirect Co-operation: in this
type of co-operation individuals work towards a common end but
each has his own specialized functions too as the case, for Ex: When
carpenters, plumbers and masons co-operate to build a house.

41. Types of Co-operation
• Primary co-operation: In this co-operation is found in primary groups
such as the family.
• Secondary co-operation: This type is cooperation is found in the
secondary groups such as Government, Industry, Church and Trade
union etc.,
• Tertiary co-operation: This co-operation is found in the interaction
between the various big and small groups to meet a particular
situation. For Ex: When Russia and America join together to defeat
China in war.

42. Competition
• Competition is the most fundamental form of social struggle.
• Struggle for existence and better life.
• It is one aspects of struggle which is universal not only in human
society but also in the animal society.
• Importance – assignment of individuals to proper places – source of
motivation – conductive to progress.

43. Definition of Competition
• Sutherland – “Competition is an impersonal, unconscious,
continuous, struggle between individuals or group which because of
their limited supply all may not have”.
• Biesanz – “Competition is the struggling between two or more
persons for the same goal which is limited so that all cannot share it”.
• Characteristics of competition: Competition is impersonal struggle.
Competition is an unconscious activity. Competition is universal.

44. Conflict
• It is the anti-thesis of co-operation.
• It is a process of seeking to obtain rewards by eliminating or
weakening the competitors.
Definition of conflict
• Gillin and Gillin - Conflict is the social process in which individuals or
groups seeks their ends by directly challenging the enemy by violence
or threat of violence.

45. Characteristics & Causes of Conflicts
Characteristics of conflict:
• conscious action
• it is a personal activity
• lacking continuity
• universal one
Causes of conflict:
• Individual differences
• Cultural differences
• Clash of interests
• Social change

46. Types of Conflicts
• Gillin and Gillin mentioned five types of conflict –
• Personal conflict
• Racial conflict
• Class conflict
• Political conflict
• International conflict

47. Accommodation
• Accommodation is resolution of conflicts which generally means
adjusting oneself to the new environment.
• Adjustment may be to the physical or social environment.
• Accommodation denotes acquired changes in the behaviour of
individuals which enable them to adjust to their environment.

48. Definition of Accommodation
• MacIver – “The term accommodation refers particularly to the
process in which man attains a sense of harmony with his
environment”.
• Sutherland and Others – “Accommodation is the process by which
those once in conflict can work together in common enterprises”.
• Ogburn and Nimkoff – “Accommodation is a term used by the
sociologists to describe the adjustment of hostile (unfriendly)
individuals or groups”

49. Characteristics of Accommodation
• Accommodation is the natural result of conflict.
• Accommodation is mainly an unconscious activity.
• Accommodation is universal.
• Accommodation is a continuous process.
• Accommodation is a mixture of both love and hatred.

50. Assimilation
• It is more permanent than accommodation.
• Its more functional changes than accommodation.
• This is also a process of learning like socialization – both social and
psychological process.
• It is a process by which persons and groups acquire the culture of the
other group in which they come to live by adopting its attitudes and
values .

51. Definition of Assimilation
• Bogardus – “Assimilation is a process whereby attitudes of many
persons are united, an thus develop into a united group”.
• Biesanz – “Assimilation is the social process whereby individuals or
groups come to share the same sentiments and goals”.

52. Characteristics of Assimilation
• Its not confined to single field only – its applied two different groups.
• It is a slow and gradual process – cannot take place all of suddenly.
• It is an unconscious process – we cannot see the real things.
• It is a two way process – its principle of give and take.

53. Isolation
• If the communicative interaction or social contact is absent that
condition can be called as isolation.
• It occurs among individuals and groups.
• Absolute isolation is impossible.
• Types of Isolation: spatial & organic
• Spatial isolation is external.
• Organic defects of individual such as deafness or blindness.
• Shyness.
• Privacy.

54. Thank you !