The Concept of Society

Meaning and Nature of Society

According to sociologist, a society is a group of people with common

territory, interaction, and culture. Arcinas (2016) in his book, Undertanding
Culture, Society, and Politics, defined society as group of people who share a
common territory snd culture. It is a group of people living together in a
definite territory, having a sense of belongingness, mutually interdependent
of each other, and follow a certain way of life. Society is deerived from the
Latin term "societas", from socius, which means companion or associate.
Thus, it refers to all people, collectively regarded as constituting a
community of related, interdependent individuals living in a definite place,
following a certain mode of life (Ariola, 2012).

Definition of society has two types - the functional definition and the
structural definition. From the functional point of view, society is defined as a
complex of groups in reciprocal relationships, interacting upon one another,
enabling human organisms to carry on their life-activities and helping each
person to fulfill his wishes and accomplish his interests in association with his
fellows. From the structural point of view, society is the total social heritage
of folkways,

The important aspect of society is the system of relationships, the

pattern of the norms of interaction by which the members of the
society maintain themselves.

The following are reasons people live together as a society (Ariola,

2012):

a. For survival - No man is an island No man can live alone. From birth to
death, man always dependsn upon his parents and from others. The care,
support, and protection given by them are importnt factors for survival.

b. Feeling of gregariousness - This is the desire of people to be with other

people, esecially of their own culture. People flock together for emotional
warmth and belongingness. the need for approval, sympathy and
understanding to which the individual belongs is a psychosocial need. Among
Filipinos, the feeling of gregariousness is found in all levels of society,
especially among the lower socio- econmic classess. The more the person is
needy, the more he craves sympathy and understanding from someone else.

c. Specialization - Teachers, businessmen, students, physicians, nurses,

lawyers, pharmacists, and other professionals organize themselves into
societies or associations to promote and protect their own professions.

Characteristics of Society

Society comprises of a group of people who share a common culture, live in a

particular area and feel themselves to constitute a unified and distinct entity.
Society or human society is a group of people related to each other through
persistent relations such as kinship, marriage, social status, roles and social
networks. By extension, society denotes the people of a region or country.
sometimes even the world, taken as a whole.

Society has the following characteristics:

1. It is a social system. A social system consists of individuals interacting

with each other. A system consists of sub-parts whereby a change in one part
affects the other parts. Thus, a change in one group of individuals will affect
the stability of the other parts of the system.

2. It is relatively large. The people must be socialy integrated to be

considered relatively large than if the people are individually scattered. Thus,
the people in a family, clan, tribe, neighborhood, community are socially
integrated to be relatively large in scope.

3. It socializes its members and from those from without. Since most
of society's members are born to it, they are taught the basic norms and
expectations. Those who come from other societies, before being accepted
as functioning members, are socialized and taught the basic norms and
expectations of the society.

4. It endures, produces and sustains its members for generations.

For society to survive, it must have the ability to produce, endure and

sustain its new members for at least several generations. For instance, if a
society cannot assist its members during their extreme conditions of hunger
and poverty, that society will not survive long.
5. It holds its members through a common culture. The individuals in a
society are held together because that society has symbols, norms, values,
patterns of interaction, vision and mission that are commonly shared by the
members of such society.

6. It has clearly-defined geographical territory. The members in a

society must live in a certain specific habitat or place and have a common
belongingness and sense of purpose.

Major Functions of Society - A society is important because they have

the following functions:

1. It provides a system of socialization. Knowledge and skills, dominant

patterns of behavior, moral and social values, and aspects of personality are
transmitted to each members, especially to the young, the family, the peer
group, the school, the church and other government and non- government
organizations play a role in the individual's development.

2. It provides the basic needs of its members. Food, clothing, shelter,

medicine, education, transportations and communication facilities, among
others must be provided by society to satisfy the basic needds of its
members.

3. It regulates and controls people's behavior. Conformity to the

prevailing norms of conduct ensures social control. The police, armed forces,
law enforcement agencies and even the church and other government and
non-government organizations exist as means of social control. Peace and
order are created through a system of norms and formal organizations.

4. It provides the means of social participation. Through social

participation, the individuals in a society learn to interact with each other,
present and discuss their concerns and solve their own problems or renew
their commitment and values. the people are give the opportunities to
contribute to their knowledge and skills for the betterment of their family,
neighborhood and community, religious organizations, civic organizations,
people's organizations (PO) and non-government organizations (NGOs) do
their part in community developement.

5. It provides mutual support to the members. Mutual support is

provided to the members of society in the form of relief in any form and
solution to problems met by them. This form of assistance may come from
the family, neighbors, clans, government and non-government agencies,
civic and religious organizations.

Types of Societies

Societies exist in particular places and times, and they change over
time. Societies are organized in particular patterns, patterns that are
shaped by a range of factors, including the way people procure food,
the availability of resources, contact with other societies, and cultural
beliefs. For example, people can change from herding to farming only if
they have the knowledge, skills, and desire to do so and only in
environments that will support agriculture. As societies develop,
changes take place in the social structures and relationships between
people that characterize each type of society. For example, in
industrialized societies, relationships between people typically must
become more formal because people must interact with strangers and
not just relatives. It is important to note that not all societies go
through all stages. Some are jolted into the future by political events or
changes in the global system, and some resist pressures to become
modernized and continue to live in simpler social systems.

Sociologists and anthropologists (experts who study early and tribal

cultures) identified different types and classification of societies. Below
are the different types of societies as mentioned by Ariola (2012) in his
book Sociology and Anthropology with Family Planning:

According to Economic According to According to People’s

and Material system Evolutionary View Substinence
1.Pre-class Societies 1.Simple Societies 1.Food Gathering
- They are -These predominantly Societies (more than
characterized by were small, nomadic 16, 000 years ago) -
communal ownership of and leadership is The people survived
property and division of unstable. The people from day to day
labor. Examples of had no specialization of through hunting larger
these societies are skills, thus they lived in animals, collecting
earliest clans and a simple life. shellfish and vegetable
tribes. gathering. Their tools
were made of stones,
wood and bones.
2.Asiatic Societies - 2.Compound 2.Horticultural
The people are Societies - Two or Societies (12, 000 to
economically self- more simple societies 15, 000 years ago) -
sufficient but their merged to form a new The people planted
leaders are despotic and bigger society. seeds as a means of
and powerful. These societies tended production for
to be predominantly subsistence.
settled agriicultural
societies and tended
characterized to be a
by division of four or
five social classes.
3. Ancient Societies- 3. DoublyCompound 3. Pastoral Societies
These are Societies - These are - Most of the people are
characterized by integrated, more nomadic who follow
private ownership. The definite in political and their herds in quest of
rich land (those who religious structure and animals for food and
haves) owned big tract more complex division clothing to satisfy their
of private properties of labor. Considerable needs. they raised
while the poor (those progress in animals to provide milk,
who-have-nots) worked infrastructure and fur and blood for
as laborers. Thus, knowledge in arts had protein. These societies
wealth is linited to a taken place. typically are small,
few people. relatively wandering
communities organized
along male-centered
kinship groups.
4.Feudal Societies - 4.Militant Societies 4. Agricultural
The aristocrats (feudal - These are Societies - In the early
lords) owned the characterized by the the agricultural
wealth of the country following: (a)the socicities, people used
due to their ownership existence of military plow than hoe in food
of big tracts of lands. organization and rank; production. By the use
The peasants workeed (b) individual lives and of plow, it turns the
on the lands of the private possessions are topsoil deeper allowing
feudal lords with only at the disposal of the for better aerating and
few benefits received State; and (c) individula dertilizing thus
by them. However, activities such as improving better , yield
these types of societies recreation, movements when harvested.
collapsed due to the satisfaction of Irrigation farming was
rise of cities and biological needs, and introduced which
metropolis as a result production of goods are reulted to a larger yield
of the rise of trades and totally regulated by of production that can
industries. the State. In other even , feed large
words individuals exist number of people who
to serve the State. did not know how to
 produce food by
themselves.
5. Capitalists 5.Industrial Societies 5.Industrial Societies
Societies - These socities are -
-These societies existed characterized by the These societies began
in societies where two following: (a) people in the 18th century
classes of people elect their during the Industrial
appeared. The representatives to Revolution and gained
bourgeoise (property protect their individual momentum by the turn
owners) who owned the initiatives; (b) freedom of the 19th century.
capital and the means of belief, religion, This period is
of production and the production of industrial characterized by the
ploretariat (the laborers goods exist; (c) use of machines as
or workers) who are disputes and means of food
compelled to work for grievances are settled production. Mass
the capitalists or sell through peaceful production invention of
their small properties to arbitration; and (d) of guns, steam
the capitalists. business organizations locomotives and large
production of steel, and