HOW SOCIETY IS ORGANIZED

• Social relationships and patterns of interactions become institutions the moment they start being governed by formal and informal agreements or by strong traditional norms
• The agreements may dictate the concrete forms of arrangements with the ambit (bounds or limits) of specific interest and goals
• Organizations pertain to patterns of arrangements shaped and conditioned by the overarching concerns that they aim to address
• Types of social groups

  • Social aggregates
  • Social categories
  • Groups
• Social aggregates


  A simple collection of people who happened to be together in a particular places but do not significantly interact or identify with one another
• Social categories


  People who share a common characteristics but do not necessarily interact or identify with one another
• Groups


  Two or more people who identify with and engage with each other
• Examples of groups an individual may belong to

  • Religious group
  • Ethnic group
  • Work colleague group
  • College class
  • Sports team
• 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


  • Small; characterized by long-lasting intimate relationship which binds the members together more than the goal
• Secondary group


  • Large or small; common interests bind the members together more than their relationship
• Reference group


  Groups which we compare ourselves against and which serve as a standard against which behaviors and attitudes are measured
• Types of reference groups

  • In-group
  • Out-group
• In-group


  Social groups which an individual feels he or she belongs to, and feels loyalty and respect for
• Out-group


  Groups that an individual does not identify with, and feels antagonism and contempt for
• Normative reference group


  Groups that influence your norms, attitudes, and values through direct interaction
• Comparative reference group


  Groups that you compare yourself against and may strive to be like
• Networks


  A set of informal and formal social ties that link people to each other
• In a sociological concept, networks refer to the social relationships that exist between network parts and individuals
• In an organization, network elements can include social groups or teams, organizational units, or entire organizations
• The activity is to create a collage representing "My group as a mirror of myself"