Lesson 8 Social Groups

Social Groups
Lesson 8
Sociological Perspective of Society
• Social groups are fundamental parts of human life. They are a multitude of people who see
each other often and think of themselves as part of a group. There appears to be groups
of people everywhere. We could be a member of a church group, college class,
workplace, sports team, club, and others.
1. Structural Functionalism
❑ Believes that society is a constitution with interconnected parts organized to attain the
biological and sociological needs of individuals in the society.
❑ Hebert Spencer (1820–1903) claimed that just like the different organs of the body
the various parts of society worked together to keep society functioning. These parts
of society were the social institutions such as government, education, family,
healthcare, religion, and the economy.
1. Structural Functionalism
❑ Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) believed that society was composed of interdependent

and interconnected parts that were put together to keep instability held collectively by
shared social construct which served to regulate social life such as laws, morals, values,
religious beliefs, customs, fashion, and rituals.
❑ Robert Merton (1910–2003) noted that social processes had functions.
1. Manifest functions are the outcomes of a social process that are expected.
Examples of education manifest functions are acquiring knowledge, preparing for
a career, or getting a good job.
2. Latent functions are unintended outcomes of a social process.
Examples of latent functions of education include finding new friends, attending
extracurricular activities, or even finding a life partner.
• Dysfunctions may happen when social processes have undesirable
outcomes for the society. In education, examples of dysfunctions are getting
failing grades, nonattendance in school/classes, dropping out of school, not
graduating on time, and not finding an appropriate occupation.
2. Marxism
• Marxism sees society as a competition for limited resources.

• Karl Marx (1818–1883) believed that society was composed of individuals in various social
classes competing for resources such as food, clothing, shelter, and employment. Some
organizations and individuals were able to acquire and keep more resources than others.
Social institutions such as education, health, religion, media and government in some
cases displayed this practice of inequalities and unequal social structure between the rich
and the poor.
• Max Weber (1864-1920) added that aside from economic inequalities, there were also
inequalities of social structure and political power that caused struggle. He noted that
various groups were treated differently based on race, gender, and educational
attainment. The people’s state of inequality was influenced by class deviation, social
immobility and representation of political power.
3. Symbolic Interactionism
• Symbolic Interactionism studied the human relationship of individuals within a society or human
interaction in which people make sense of their social worlds or communication through
exchange of language, symbols and its meaning.
• George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) is considered as the founding father of symbolic
interactionism.
• His student, Herbert Blumer (1900-1987), coined the term and characterized it with these basic
premises:
(a) human beings communicate based on the meanings they ascribe to things;
(b) the attribute meaning of things come from our interactions with others and society; and
(c) the meanings of things are interpreted through a process used by the individual in
treating the things he or she experiences.
Forms of Social Group
• Groups are formed as an assemblage of people who often interact with each other
on the basis of a common outlook concerning behavior and a sense of common
identity. A social group may consist of two or more individuals who do things
together with a common goal and interest.
• Examples: family, relatives, couples, friends, church mate, schoolmate, co-workers,
neighborhood, organization, team mate, clubs
Groups: The Heart of Interaction
• Social aggregates- a simple collection of people who happened to be

together in a particular place but do not significantly interact or identify
with one another.
• Social categories- people who share a common characteristics (such as
gender or occupation) but do not necessarily interact or identify with one
another. (Example: Boys of Senior High or Manila Senior High School
Teachers)
• Group- a collection of individuals who have regular contact and frequent
interaction, and common feeling of belongingness, who work together to
achieve a common set of goals.
Social Group
• Social group – a collection of people who regularly interact with one

another on the basis of shared expectations concerning behavior and who
share a sense of common identity.
• Primary group- typically a small group whose members share close,
personal and enduring relationships. (Examples: families, childhood
friends, and highly influential social groups). Members of primary groups
feel a strong personal identity with the group.
• Secondary group- can be small or large; common interest bind the
members together more than their relationship; usually short term. These
groups are typically found at work and school. (Example: project group)
Social Group
❑ In-Group: social groups to which an individual feels he or she

belongs. One feels loyalty and respect for these groups.
(Example: fraternity)
❑ Out-Group: social groups that an individual does not identify with.
One feels antagonism and contempt for these groups.
(Example: sports team opponent)
Reference Group
• Reference group- group to which we compare ourselves.

• Reference groups serve as an element or component that individuals use as a
standard towards the achievement of a desired behavior in making judgement
about the quality of life or things.
• It is not necessary that we become a member of a reference group; this can be a
person’s favorite fashion style, artist, pop idols, sports team, mentor, or a well
know personality we admire and want to emulate.
Network
• Networks are created because of the need to establish connection for

some reasons like personal, economic, religious, or political interests.
• These are collective individuals functioning on similar undertaking
unnecessarily known to one another.
• A network is a group that includes individuals who come into casual
connection but who do not have enough sense of belongingness.
• Other intellectuals assert that networks are unstratified, unstructured,
and free of value organizations. Examples of these are Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and other social networking sites.
Functions of Social Groups
• Primary Group- plays a vital part in the socialization process. It forms the social
nature and ideals of individuals especially in shaping the culture and
personality where a person learns social norms, beliefs, morals, and values.
• Secondary Group - tend to relate to others only in specific roles and for
practical reasons. This group helps in fulfilling various types of human needs
and brings about social awareness and social change. Also, this group helps
fulfill various special interests in such fields as sports, dance, music, and others.
• An in-group may form within our secondary group such as our workmates,
group mates, or assembly which functions as a group of people who can
connect with each other because of their sense of identity and belongingness
while outgroup functions as a competitor or rival group that an individual is
opposed to.
• Reference group provides a standard of measurement. This group has a
strong impact on how a person thinks and acts as it may serve as guide to a
member’s behavior and social norms.
• Social networks are influential in a wide range of online platforms used

for building social relationships with other people including sharing of
political opinions, likes and dislikes, and can even show trending societal
issues or personalities.

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Social Groups

❑ Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) believed that society was composed of interdependent

• Marxism sees society as a competition for limited resources.

• Social aggregates- a simple collection of people who happened to be

• Social group – a collection of people who regularly interact with one

❑ In-Group: social groups to which an individual feels he or she

• Reference group- group to which we compare ourselves.

• Networks are created because of the need to establish connection for

• Social networks are influential in a wide range of online platforms used

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