This is an interactive lecture which includes links to internet sources, videos, and polls. This lecture on groups contains copyrighted material under the educational fair use exemption to the U.S. copyright law.
Caption: “Sixty-seven rounds of ammunition fired over 13 seconds (which killed four students, wounded nine others, resulting in one permanent paralysis) became the shots that changed the world. It was May 4th 1970 at Kent State University in Ohio. Unpopularity of the Vietnam War was at its peak that spring, and with the invasion of Cambodia a week before, the tension was fever-pitch. In that atmosphere, the Ohio National Guard fired upon students recklessly, harming observers and passers-by” (iconicphotos.wordpress.com).
Check This Out: Read the full article about the Kent State shootings and the student photographer who took the images.
Check This Out: Read the full article about the Kent State shootings and the student photographer who took the images.
To study society and people, besides sociological theories, research methods, and culture, sociologists also need to understand group organization and group behavior. What possesses individuals to commit acts of evil or altruism, and why does society encourage or discourage these and other behaviors?
As we learned from previous lectures, sociologists study social life using theories related to macrosociology and microsociology. Sociologists view a society as the largest group possible. On the other hand, small groups are groups we associate with in our everyday lives. A dyad is the smallest group possible.
Sociology developed as a discipline when early sociologists observed the rapid and immense social changes during the Industrial Revolution.
Your Turn: Watch the video below on the Industrial Revolution. What connections can you make between the societal changes which emerged during the Industrial Revolution versus the societal changes emerging today?
As we learned from previous lectures, sociologists study social life using theories related to macrosociology and microsociology. Sociologists view a society as the largest group possible. On the other hand, small groups are groups we associate with in our everyday lives. A dyad is the smallest group possible.
Sociology developed as a discipline when early sociologists observed the rapid and immense social changes during the Industrial Revolution.
Your Turn: Watch the video below on the Industrial Revolution. What connections can you make between the societal changes which emerged during the Industrial Revolution versus the societal changes emerging today?
Ferdinand Tonnies was a German sociologist who studied these changes and referred to preindustrial societies as gemeinschaft and industrial societies as gesellshchaft. By gemeinschaft, he meant the intimate relationships and dependence that people had on each other living in rural villages and gesellschaft as the change in relationships becoming more impersonal as masses of people moved from villages to the growing cities during industrialization.
Prior to the industrialization of society, average people did not travel far from their villages because travel mainly took place on foot. Cars, railroads, and airplanes did not exist and neither did the internet, phones, televisions or radios. Life revolved around village life and stories from afar were brought to villagers by traveling merchants. During the industrialization of society, technology made it possible for people to communicate with each other from afar and travel greater and greater distances. This created one of the major societal shifts in history. People became dependent on strangers for their daily lives than their family and local village community.
Your Turn: Think about the things you need to survive. How many of these are provided by the people you know versus strangers?
For the first time, the masses left home to work in factories and people spent the majority of their time away from home with strangers. Family size and relationships changed as couples in Western cultures started to marry for love rather than necessity and children were born for pleasure rather than to help with work needed for survival.
Prior to the industrialization of society, average people did not travel far from their villages because travel mainly took place on foot. Cars, railroads, and airplanes did not exist and neither did the internet, phones, televisions or radios. Life revolved around village life and stories from afar were brought to villagers by traveling merchants. During the industrialization of society, technology made it possible for people to communicate with each other from afar and travel greater and greater distances. This created one of the major societal shifts in history. People became dependent on strangers for their daily lives than their family and local village community.
Your Turn: Think about the things you need to survive. How many of these are provided by the people you know versus strangers?
For the first time, the masses left home to work in factories and people spent the majority of their time away from home with strangers. Family size and relationships changed as couples in Western cultures started to marry for love rather than necessity and children were born for pleasure rather than to help with work needed for survival.
Emile Durkheim a French sociologist was also fascinated by societal changes during the Industrial Revolution. Rather than focus on village life versus city life, Durkheim studied social solidarity. Social solidarity is often used interchangeably with social cohesion and social integration. All three of these key terms relate to how people are connected to society through shared values and norms or a shared culture.
Durkheim studied how social solidarity changed with industrialization and referred to these changes as mechanical solidarity versus organic solidarity. In preindustrial societies, division of labor was simple since people for the most part shared similar work and therefore this led people to have the same outlook on life and share the same beliefs. These preindustrial societies are also referred to as traditional societies. People made decisions based on custom and mysteries of life were explained through religious beliefs. When a person went against the group, that person was publically and severely punished to set an example for the rest of the group since any deviation from the norm was seen as a threat to the existence of that group. Examples of public punishment included the guillotine, stoning, hanging, etc. Durkheim referred to the strong ties that people had to each other as mechanical solidarity.
As people moved to cities, social solidarity or the ties that people had with each other changed. Division of labor became complex as work evolved due to changes in technology. Now rather than people sharing work there are thousands of occupations that require unique specializations. People became dependent on the labor of strangers rather than their own family. Modern societies are also referred to as rational societies. People today make decisions not so much on custom but logic. What may have worked in the past may not work today and people need to weigh their options. Mysteries of life are now more often explained by science then religion and when people deviate from norms they are punished privately such as through prison sentences and fines rather than publically shamed. Durkheim referred to the weaker ties that people now have with each other as organic solidarity. Just each organ in our body has a unique function, people today have their own individual occupations and we have less in common with our family members and more in common with strangers who share our professions.
Your Turn: Watch the video below for a more detailed explanation of mechanical versus organic solidarity. Also pay attention to the review of functionalism theory as Emile Durkheim is considered the father of functionalism.
Durkheim studied how social solidarity changed with industrialization and referred to these changes as mechanical solidarity versus organic solidarity. In preindustrial societies, division of labor was simple since people for the most part shared similar work and therefore this led people to have the same outlook on life and share the same beliefs. These preindustrial societies are also referred to as traditional societies. People made decisions based on custom and mysteries of life were explained through religious beliefs. When a person went against the group, that person was publically and severely punished to set an example for the rest of the group since any deviation from the norm was seen as a threat to the existence of that group. Examples of public punishment included the guillotine, stoning, hanging, etc. Durkheim referred to the strong ties that people had to each other as mechanical solidarity.
As people moved to cities, social solidarity or the ties that people had with each other changed. Division of labor became complex as work evolved due to changes in technology. Now rather than people sharing work there are thousands of occupations that require unique specializations. People became dependent on the labor of strangers rather than their own family. Modern societies are also referred to as rational societies. People today make decisions not so much on custom but logic. What may have worked in the past may not work today and people need to weigh their options. Mysteries of life are now more often explained by science then religion and when people deviate from norms they are punished privately such as through prison sentences and fines rather than publically shamed. Durkheim referred to the weaker ties that people now have with each other as organic solidarity. Just each organ in our body has a unique function, people today have their own individual occupations and we have less in common with our family members and more in common with strangers who share our professions.
Your Turn: Watch the video below for a more detailed explanation of mechanical versus organic solidarity. Also pay attention to the review of functionalism theory as Emile Durkheim is considered the father of functionalism.
Emile Durkheim’s classic study on suicide identified four types of suicide based on the level of individual social integration and the level of regulation or social control by society.
Check This Out: Read this article titled Of Altruism, Heroism and Evolution's Gifts
Check This Out: Read this article titled Of Altruism, Heroism and Evolution's Gifts
Check This Out: Read this article titled Suicide: The Need for Social Solidarity
Karl Marx also studied the changes during the industrialization of society. Karl Marx coined the term alienation to refer to the detachment people feel from the products they manufacture in a capitalist economy that emerged during the Industrial Revolution. Prior to industrialization, people were craftsmen or artisans who practiced a trade that was passed down from generation to generation within the family. Through their craft they saw the product from start to finish. People’s identity was tied to their work. Capitalism which has a profit motive took advantage of cost cutting measures such as machinery and the assembly line. People became alienated from the products they manufactured and instead became seen as “cogs in a machine.” From Karl Marx’s perspective, work and the work environment came to be controlled by the bourgeoisie class with the proletariat class having very little power over their own work conditions and consequently their own lives.
Your Turn: watch the videos below on a more detailed explanation of Karl Marx’s alienation concept. How does the message of the video remind you of the conditions of the working class in today’s economy? Also pay attention to the review of conflict theory as Karl Marx is considered the father of conflict theory.
Your Turn: watch the videos below on a more detailed explanation of Karl Marx’s alienation concept. How does the message of the video remind you of the conditions of the working class in today’s economy? Also pay attention to the review of conflict theory as Karl Marx is considered the father of conflict theory.
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During the industrialization of society, social institutions and formal organizations emerged as people spent more time outside of the family. Social institutions are parts of a society that have manifest functions or societal roles to maintain stability in a society.
Examine the various social institutions that exist in the United States today. Pay attention to the formal organizations that are a part of each social institution along with the statuses that people take on within each social institutions and the cultural values and norms that are taught to us.
Examine the various social institutions that exist in the United States today. Pay attention to the formal organizations that are a part of each social institution along with the statuses that people take on within each social institutions and the cultural values and norms that are taught to us.
Formal organizations are also referred to as bureaucracies and these just as social institutions have a purpose.
Max Weber a German sociologist studied bureaucracies and identified their characteristics: hierarchy of authority, clear division of labor, written rules, written records, and impersonality.
Your Turn: Watch the video below on bureaucracies. Make a list of all the formal organizations you come in contact with on a regular day. What is the purpose of each one?
Max Weber a German sociologist studied bureaucracies and identified their characteristics: hierarchy of authority, clear division of labor, written rules, written records, and impersonality.
Your Turn: Watch the video below on bureaucracies. Make a list of all the formal organizations you come in contact with on a regular day. What is the purpose of each one?
There are also different types of formal organizations including utilitarian, normative or voluntary, and coercive.
While bureaucracies are organized to maintain stability in a society, they are also dysfunctional. Some of these dysfunctions include: red tape, alienation, goal displacement, self-fulfilling stereotypes, hidden corporate cultures, and lack of diversity.
Your Turn: which of the above bureaucratic dysfunctions have you experienced?
Throughout your day you move in and out of aggregates. Aggregates are people with whom we come in contact with with but do not see ourselves connected to such as waiting in line in a movie theatre, watching the movie in a theatre, or getting stuck in a traffic jam on your way home from the movie theatre.
Your Turn: Make a list of various aggregates you have contact in a typical day.
The most important group for all of us is our primary group followed by our secondary groups. These groups have characteristics that tend to oppose each other. Watch the video below for more detailed explanation of primary and secondary groups.
Your Turn: which of the above bureaucratic dysfunctions have you experienced?
Throughout your day you move in and out of aggregates. Aggregates are people with whom we come in contact with with but do not see ourselves connected to such as waiting in line in a movie theatre, watching the movie in a theatre, or getting stuck in a traffic jam on your way home from the movie theatre.
Your Turn: Make a list of various aggregates you have contact in a typical day.
The most important group for all of us is our primary group followed by our secondary groups. These groups have characteristics that tend to oppose each other. Watch the video below for more detailed explanation of primary and secondary groups.
There are other groups that we may or may not physically belong to but we still have emotional ties to. These are called in-groups and out-groups. In-groups are those that we have strong emotional feelings of attachment and devotion while out-groups are the opposite, we have strong feelings of competition and dislike. In-groups and out-groups provide feelings of belonging or social solidarity, social cohesion, or social integration in a rather impersonal or gesellschaft society.
While we cheer for our favorite sports team, our loathing for the opposing team brings us closer to other fans. So strong are our emotional ties to our teams that people do all sorts of weird to criminal acts from screaming at their television sets to looting and starting fires! While sports teams are a relatively harmless example of in-groups versus out-groups when taken to the extreme, in-groups and out-groups can lead to ethnocentrism, racism, intense hatred, violence, genocide, etc.
Your Turn: Examine the examples of in-groups and out-groups below and watch the video on in-group and out-group behaviors among teens in school. What other examples of in-group versus out-group behaviors remind you of the message in this video?
While we cheer for our favorite sports team, our loathing for the opposing team brings us closer to other fans. So strong are our emotional ties to our teams that people do all sorts of weird to criminal acts from screaming at their television sets to looting and starting fires! While sports teams are a relatively harmless example of in-groups versus out-groups when taken to the extreme, in-groups and out-groups can lead to ethnocentrism, racism, intense hatred, violence, genocide, etc.
Your Turn: Examine the examples of in-groups and out-groups below and watch the video on in-group and out-group behaviors among teens in school. What other examples of in-group versus out-group behaviors remind you of the message in this video?
A reference group can be made up of people we have personal, impersonal, or no physical connections to but in some way we measure ourselves to. Most of us have individuals in our life that we considered to be our role models. These could be your parents, older sibling, teacher or even a celebrity. Reference groups are our role models. Not only do they exemplify ways of thinking and behaving but we imitate their behaviors and then judge ourselves to them.
Sometimes different reference groups contradict each other and send us mixed messages such as athletes using steroids. For many adults professional occupation associations are our reference groups. The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a reference group for sociologists. The ASA has ethical guidelines or standards of behavior that all sociologists are expected to follow.
Your Turn: What are your reference groups? Do any of your reference groups have contradicting messages? Watch the video below for a more detailed explanation of reference group.
Sometimes different reference groups contradict each other and send us mixed messages such as athletes using steroids. For many adults professional occupation associations are our reference groups. The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a reference group for sociologists. The ASA has ethical guidelines or standards of behavior that all sociologists are expected to follow.
Your Turn: What are your reference groups? Do any of your reference groups have contradicting messages? Watch the video below for a more detailed explanation of reference group.
Group dynamics refers to the interactions between group members in a group and how group members influence each other. What happens in a group between group members is significantly influenced by the group’s size. Size matters!
Sociologist Georg Simmel studied the effects of group size and here are his rules.
Sociologist Georg Simmel studied the effects of group size and here are his rules.
As you can see, the rules oppose each other for small and large groups. But that’s not all, each time a person joins a group, its group dynamics change. A smallest group possible is a dyad and consists of two people. This is the most unstable of all groups since if one member of the group leaves the group, for whatever reason, the group no longer exists. Adding one additional person to a dyad results in a triad. Relationships within a group of three people are now possible that in a dyad are impossible.
Martha is upset with Lisa because she thinks Lisa is talking behind her back. Lisa asks Sarah to defend her and Martha also expects Sarah to choose a side. As you can see, Sarah is in a tough spot as she is being asked to be the “peacemaker.” She has been assigned a role that is not possible in a dyad.
Sarah takes Lisa’s side and tells Martha that there have been times when Martha has talked “smack” about Lisa and therefore she is being hypocritical. Lisa and Sarah have joined a coalition and have made Martha a scapegoat or a victim. A coalition is when two or more group members take a side against other members in a group. This is also not possible in a dyad. Each time a new member joins a group, the group dynamics become more complex. A group of five can be a family - with mom and dad a dyad and in a coalition joining forces to make the siblings clean their room. A group of seven can be your colleagues at work with as many as 21 different relationships. No wonder our lives are so complicated!!
Your Turn: Think about your group of friends and describe the group dynamics, including coalitions in your group. Watch the video for a more detailed explanation of group dynamics in a work environment.
Sarah takes Lisa’s side and tells Martha that there have been times when Martha has talked “smack” about Lisa and therefore she is being hypocritical. Lisa and Sarah have joined a coalition and have made Martha a scapegoat or a victim. A coalition is when two or more group members take a side against other members in a group. This is also not possible in a dyad. Each time a new member joins a group, the group dynamics become more complex. A group of five can be a family - with mom and dad a dyad and in a coalition joining forces to make the siblings clean their room. A group of seven can be your colleagues at work with as many as 21 different relationships. No wonder our lives are so complicated!!
Your Turn: Think about your group of friends and describe the group dynamics, including coalitions in your group. Watch the video for a more detailed explanation of group dynamics in a work environment.
As groups grow in size they become formal and leaders emerge. Sociologists identify three types of leadership styles: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire and two types of leaders: instrumental and expressive.
Using Simmel’s rules related to large groups, we begin to see a phenomenon sociologists refer to as the diffusion of responsibility and psychologists call the bystander effect. In large groups, since relationships among people are impersonal and distant, it is easy to remain anonymous and consequently easy to deflate responsibility.
Emergency responders are trained to address bystanders directly and give them instructions rather than yelling into the crowd – “someone get a blanket, someone get witness information, someone get water”; because if we ask somebody to do something nobody will probably get the job done. Experiments have shown that in large groups people will ignore assisting people in life and death situations and numerous current events show this phenomenon in real life.
Your Turn: When the professor asks the class a question, how many students usually participate in a class discussion? Why do you think the majority of students remain silent? Is it easier to remain silent when the class is large as opposed to working in small groups or dyads? Why do you think this is so? Watch the two videos below on the bystander effect.
Emergency responders are trained to address bystanders directly and give them instructions rather than yelling into the crowd – “someone get a blanket, someone get witness information, someone get water”; because if we ask somebody to do something nobody will probably get the job done. Experiments have shown that in large groups people will ignore assisting people in life and death situations and numerous current events show this phenomenon in real life.
Your Turn: When the professor asks the class a question, how many students usually participate in a class discussion? Why do you think the majority of students remain silent? Is it easier to remain silent when the class is large as opposed to working in small groups or dyads? Why do you think this is so? Watch the two videos below on the bystander effect.
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Two classic social psychology experiments by Solomon Asch on peer pressure and conformity and Stanley Milgram on obedience to authority illustrate the power of group dynamics.
The Asch conformity experiment (1952) was so revolutionary that it is still being replicated to this day with consistent results.
Your Turn: Watch the first video replicating the Asch conformity experiment and then the second video which is a variation of the Asch conformity experiment. What current societal events remind you of the results of the Asch conformity experiment?
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The Milgram obedience experiment (1963) was found to be unethical due to participants being emotionally harmed and subsequently needing psychological support. It has never been replicated until recently when an IRB modified the conditions of the experiment. The results of the more recent study found consistent results with the original Milgram obedience experiment.
Your Turn: Watch the first video below of the modified Milgram obedience experiment and then the second video of the original Milgram obedience experiment. What current societal events remind you of the results of the Milgram obedience experiment?
Your Turn: Watch the first video below of the modified Milgram obedience experiment and then the second video of the original Milgram obedience experiment. What current societal events remind you of the results of the Milgram obedience experiment?
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Check This Out: Read this article Thousands May Be Infected by Vegas Clinic
Another social phenomenon observed in groups is groupthink. Groupthink refers to rigid and unbending ways of thinking by group members that when faced with opposition by a group member is seen as a threat to the stability or existence of the entire group. Irving Janis identified eight characteristics of groupthink.
Check This Out: Read the original essay on groupthink by Irving Janis.
Your Turn: Watch the first video on group conformity. The second video is about the mass murder of Jonestown which is often used as an example of groupthink. What examples of groupthink can you think of?
Your Turn: Watch the first video on group conformity. The second video is about the mass murder of Jonestown which is often used as an example of groupthink. What examples of groupthink can you think of?
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The fact that the majority of us are susceptible to peer pressure and authority figures has tremendous effects on our society in all of our social institutions including the government, economy, healthcare, education, science, military, mass media, etc. Every now and then you may hear stories of how innocent people spent decades in prison or how business executives made decisions about the safety of products knowing that people’s lives were at stake. People going along with the group knowing that the group members are in the wrong or following authority orders that are unethical and illegal are more common than you think; both Janis, Asch and Milgram show that they may be a normal part of everyday life.
Other than our group membership and group dynamics, our status also effects both our thinking and behavior in a society. Sociologists define status as a position or a rank a person holds in a social group.
Your Turn: think about the different military ranks of soldiers and how their rank affects their thinking, behaviors, and opportunities within the military.
There are variations of the term status and include status set, status symbol, master status, ascribed status, and achieved status.
Your Turn: Give an example from your own life of each of the status related terms.
Other than our group membership and group dynamics, our status also effects both our thinking and behavior in a society. Sociologists define status as a position or a rank a person holds in a social group.
Your Turn: think about the different military ranks of soldiers and how their rank affects their thinking, behaviors, and opportunities within the military.
There are variations of the term status and include status set, status symbol, master status, ascribed status, and achieved status.
Your Turn: Give an example from your own life of each of the status related terms.
While status is a position we occupy in society, roles are responsibilities that we fulfill that sometimes are linked to status. Oftentimes the stressors that you have in your life are related to role conflict and/or role strain. Role conflict relates to the stress we have when two or more statuses collide or conflict with each other.
Role strain refers to the stress that we have in just one status.
Your Turn: Think about the role conflict and role strain you have. Which statuses is your role conflict related to? Which one status is your role strain related to?
Our ascribed statuses and our achieved statuses relate to opportunities or life chances. Sociologists study categories of people with similar characteristics to determine patterns related to life chances.
Social research shows that social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation are characteristics that have the greatest effect on our life chances or opportunities in the American society today. Of these, most sociologists agree that today, in the United States, social class has the greatest impact on our opportunities followed closely by our race. Social class is referred to in sociology as SES or socioeconomic status. SES is defined by OIE or occupation, income, and education.
Our ascribed statuses and our achieved statuses relate to opportunities or life chances. Sociologists study categories of people with similar characteristics to determine patterns related to life chances.
Social research shows that social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation are characteristics that have the greatest effect on our life chances or opportunities in the American society today. Of these, most sociologists agree that today, in the United States, social class has the greatest impact on our opportunities followed closely by our race. Social class is referred to in sociology as SES or socioeconomic status. SES is defined by OIE or occupation, income, and education.
Quiz Yourself: Complete this self-assessment related to the information in this lecture.
View Videos and Additional Resources: Groups
Next Unit: Social Control, Deviance, and Crime
View Videos and Additional Resources: Groups
Next Unit: Social Control, Deviance, and Crime