SOCIOLOGY

What is Sociology?
- It is unlike any other subject since it studies human societies
- In order to learn sociology, we need to unlearn what we already know. It is
not a common sense.
- It teaches us to see the world from many vantage points not just our own
and to develop a critical gaze about yourself.
- It help us to map the links and connection between personal troubles and
social issues.
Think about the major questions that we ask about our social world. Are men and
women really that different? Why do we have problems such as racism? What
motivates people to have social status and respect? These questions are hugely
important to life as a human being, and they are studied by the field of sociology.
A general definition of sociology is the scientific study of human society and social
interactions. As sociologists their main goal is to understand social situations and
look for repeating patterns in society. Sociology is a subject that relates to the
study of society. The norms, culture and values that build up society and how
different people affect society. Sociology is not common sense and is a scientific
discipline.

Sociology and Science

Since the time of founding fathers of sociology, it is debated that can there be a
“natural science of society?”
 Sociology is a social science and not a natural science.
 Sociology is a categorical, not a normative science.
 Sociology is a pure science, not an applied science.
 Sociology is a generalizing, not a particularizing or individualizing science.
 Sociology is both a rational and an empirical science.
Sociological Concepts
The different traditional focuses of sociology include social stratification, social
class, social mobility, religion, secularization, law, sexuality, gender, deviance,
bureaucracy, capitalism, poverty, family and power.
It is filled with all sorts of sociological concepts covering a wide range of topics.

 Norm: A norm is a specific expectation about how people should behave in

society. Not eating with your mouth open is an example of a social norm.
 Value: Values are more abstract than norms. They relate to acceptable
standards of behavior. Values are what a society aspires to be. Being tolerant
of other religions is an example of a value in our society.
 Culture: Culture describes the shared norms, values, and beliefs of a specific
group of people. Culture is, therefore, a force that binds people together and
unites them.
 Gender: Gender refers to the cultural aspects of being male or female. It also
relates to how society expects a male or female to behave.
 Ethnicity: Ethnicity refers to the shared norms, values, and beliefs of a specific
race of people.

Social Structure
One-way sociology achieves a more complete understanding of social reality is
through its focus on the importance of the social forces affecting our behavior,
attitudes, and life chances. This focus involves an emphasis on social structure,
the social patterns through which a society is organized. It can be both horizontal
or vertical.
Horizontal social structure refers to the social relationships and the social and
physical characteristics of communities to which individuals belong. Some people
belong to many networks of social relationships, like the PTA and the Boy or Girl
Scouts, while other people have fewer such networks. Some people grew up on
streets while other people grew up in areas where the homes were much farther
apart. These are examples of horizontal social structure that forms such an
important part of our social environment and backgrounds.
Vertical social structure more commonly called social inequality, refers to ways in
which a society or group ranks people in a hierarchy, with some more “equal”
than others. Wealth, power, race and ethnicity, and gender help determine one’s
social ranking, or position, in the vertical social structure. Some people are at the
top of society, while many more are in the middle or at the bottom. People’s
positions in society’s hierarchy in turn often have profound consequences for
their attitudes, behaviors, and life chances, both for themselves and for their
children.
Sociology is a science of society which focuses on certain basis units to
understand how human beings live and carry out their activities. Basic concepts
used by sociologists to understand social life.
 Society
 Community
 Association
 Institution

Society
What is Society?
Society is a term used in everyday life with a particular meaning.But in sociology,
the term is used isn a different sense.It is not just a congregation of collectivity of
several indiviual. It refers to the sum total of the relationships existing between
them.It is a group of people with common territory,interaction and culture.
The players in football or other games came together is not a society, but just an
aggregate of people. Within the society there are patterns and groupings on the
basis of likeness and differences.

Attributes of Society

 Likeness and Differentiation

 Inter-dependence
 Co-operation and conflict

Likeness and Differentiation – There should be an aggregate of individuals

who share the sense of likeness. No society can come into existence unless
its members feel that they are like one another.
For Example, Members of the family and kingroup, persons belonging to
the same village or small town and members of the same caste.
We can not say that society is not marked by differentiation. The members
of a society differ from one another in terms of caste, class, occupation and
education.
For Example, Family members differ from one another in terms of gender,
age, personality, outlook and personal preferences. However, these
differences complement each other in a such a way that family stability is
maintained.
Likeness and difference are logical opposites but for understanding
likeness, comprehension of its relation to the other is necessary. Society
exists among those who have some degree of likeness in mind and in body.
F.H. Giddings called this quality of society as “consciousness of kind” (a
sense of likeness). Though likeness and difference both are necessary for
the society to exist, but difference is always subordinated to likeness in
society. Likeness has a predominant share in the constitution of society.

Inter-dependence - It is another attribute of society. The member of a

society depends on one another for its smooth functioning. Members of
different caste groups depend on each other in everyday life.
Interdependent societies are more connected and integrated, but they are
also more fragile, more brittle, and more vulnerable to cascading failures.
So while highly integrated societies can accomplish feats that no group of
unspecialized laborers could dream of, they do not do so well when
subjected to shocks such as earthquakes, epidemics, financial crises, and
political conflict.
For Example, washerman, carpenter, cobbler, ironsmith, bus conductor are
seen to be doing their own tasks yet depending upon each other.

Co-operation and Conflict- Both co-operation and conflict are two another
important characteristics of society. Because famous sociologist once
remarked that "Society is Cooperation crossed by conflict". Co-operation is
essential for the formation of society. Without co-operation there can be no
society. People can't maintain a happy life without co-operation. Family
being the first society rests on co-operation.
Like co-operation conflict is also necessary for society. Conflict act as a
cementing factor for strengthening social relations. In a healthy and well-
developed society both co-operation and conflict co-exist. Because with the
help of these two universal process society is formed. Conflict makes co-
operation meaningful. Conflict may be direct and indirect. However, both
are necessary for society.
 Community

What is Community?

Community is a concrete entity.’ Whenever the members of any group, small or

large, live together in such a way that they share the basic conditions of a
common life, we call that group a community ’. They share the same physical
environment and the basic conditions of common living. A neighbourhood or a
village are good examples of a community.
The term community is one of the most elusive and vague in sociology and is by
now largely without specific meaning. At the minimum it refers to a collection of
people in a geographical area.

Characteristic of Community

 Community refers to an aggregate of individuals.

 It is associated with a locality.
 The members of the community have strong community sentiments or a
sense of belongingness or we feeling.
 Community as a group of people is created spontaneously over a long
period of time.
 It has more permanence or endurance than those groups which are created
with a purpose.
 Community serves wider ends.
 A community is usually associated with a specific name.

Bases of Community

The Community as Locality: Community always occupies a territorial area. Most

communities are settled and derive from the conditions of their locality a strong
bond of solidarity. They cannot establish relations and generate the we-feeling
among themselves. Living together facilities people to develop social contacts,
give protection, safety and security. Locality continues to be a basic factor of
community life.

Community Sentiment: Social coherence is necessary to give them a community

character. Locality, though a necessary condition, is not enough to create a
community. People living in a community lead a common life, speak the same
language, conform to the same mores, feel almost the same sentiment and
therefore, they develop a feeling of unity among themselves. The three elements
of community sentiment are:
• We-feeling
• Role-feeling
• Dependency-feeling

Community Life in India

 Agriculture base of economy
 Peace and simplicity
 Tradition and custom bound conduct
 Povert and illiteracy
 Traditional panchayati structures
 Caste based division of labour and inter-dependence.
Under the impact of british rule, population explosion,education etc., ‘We
Feeling’ has been diluted to large extent.

Types of Community
 Location-based Communities
 Identity-based Communities
 Organizationally-based Communities

In the community, members have faith, customs, natural solidarity and a common
will. A community may be big or small. A big community, such as a nation, a
number of small communities and groups with closer. Small communities like
village or neighborhood are the examples. Both the types of communities are
essential to the full development of life.
 Association

What is Association?
Association is a group of people, who come together and get organised for
fulfillment of specific goals or purpose. It is a sociall group. Without people there
can be no association. An unorganized group like crowd cannot be an association.
For Example, Cricket club in your neighbourhood, music club and trade unions.

According to Maclver, “An organization deliberately formed for the collective

pursuit of some interest or set of interest, which the members of it share, is
termed as association. Ginsberg writes, “An association is a group of social beings
related to one another by the fact that they possess or have instituted in common
an organization with a view to securing specific end or specific ends:”

Characteristics of Associations
 It consistes of group of indiviuals.
 The people are organized.
 There are cartain rules and regulations for the conduct of activities.
 These people carry out activities to attain certain specific goals.
 It is a concrete form of Organization.
 It is established.
 It exists for its aim and objects.

The existence of association after his achievement of the aim becomes,

immaterial and irrelevant. It becomes nominal and lifeless body of
formalities only. “The aim is the soul of the association.”
For example, a political party has to work together as a united group.
An association is known essentially as an organized group. Organization
gives stability and proper shape to an association. Organization refers to
the way in which the statuses and roles are distributed among the
members.
 Institutions

What is Institutions?
Institutions refer to established codes of conduct for carrying out group activities.
They refer to a set of rules and procedures, which provide guidelines for human
activities. Institutions are blueprints for human action. We have two sets of
meaning,

1.By Institutions, people generally mean an organization, for example people all
hospitals and schools as institutions.

2. However, in sociology the meaning of institution is different. Here, this term is

used to understand the ways of doing things.

Other essential functions include maintenance of law and order in society.

Institutions are the established ways of doing things. Institution is an abstract
thing which refers to those rules and regulations, norms and values which come
into being through social interaction and subsequently regulate the behavior
pattern of the members of the society.
They are then made more definite and specific with respect to the rules,
prescribed acts and the apparatus to be used.” In his discussion Sumner implies
that an institution has a degree of permanence. It should be added that it also in
integrated with the other institutions of the society. Chapin has given a definition
of an institution in terms of the cultural concept. “A social institution is a
functional configuration of culture patterns (including actions, ideas, attitudes
and cultural equipment) which possesses a certain permanence, and which is
intended to satisfy felt social needs.
Characteristics of Institutions
1.Cluster of Social Usage
2. Relative degree of Permanence
3.Well-defined Objectives
4.Cultural Objects of Utilitarian Value
5. Symbols are a Characteristic Feature of Institution
6. Institution has Definite Traditions
7. Institutions are Transmitters of the Social Heritage
8. Institutions are Resistant to Social Change

Functions of Institutions
1. Institutions Simplify Action for the Individual
2. Institutions Provide a Means of Social Control
3. Institutions Provide a Role and Status for Individuals
4. Institutions Provide Order to the Society
5. Institutions act as Stimulant
6. Institutions act as Harmonizing Agencies in the Total Cultural Configuration
7. Institutions Display Tension between Stability and Change

Religion

Education or Expressive
socialization institutions

Institutions

Social Institutions Political

Economy
 Difference
Society Community Association Institution

It includes every Associated with a People organize Institutions are

relation between definite territory. with particular forms of
people. purpose in mind. procedures and
way of doing
things.

Indians spread Indian inhibiting State, Flood relief College, family,

across the world southhall in london association, marriage etc. are
feel that they are could be called an political party are the example of
part of Indian Indian community examples of institution.
society. of Southhall. association

Society have a Community have a Association lacks institutions are

stable and long continuity and long stability and stable and
past. past. temporary in permanent in
nature. nature.

Society is an Community is a Associations are Institutions are

abstract mental concrete entity. concrete in nature. abstract
construct.
 Sociological Imagination

What is Sociological Imagination?

It is the ability to look beyond the individual as the cause for success/failure and
see how one’s society influences the outcome. Sociological imagination is not a
theory but an outlook of society which tries to steer us into thinking away from
one's usual day-to-day life and look at one's life afresh. Specifically, the
sociological imagination involves an individual developing a deep understanding
of how their biography is a result of historical process and occurs within a larger
social context. Sociological imagination is the capacity to shift from one
perspective to another.

Real life application

Sociological imagination can be applied in everyday life. For example: Tea drinking
can be seen as a means of maintaining good health in the way that one might
take daily supplements or vitamins. Tea drinking can be considered a tradition or
a ritual, as many people choose to make tea in the same way every day at a
certain time. Tea drinking can be considered an addiction because it contains
caffeine. Tea drinking can be seen as a social activity because "meeting for tea"
focuses less on the beverage and more on talking with others. Unemployment,
education, deviance, and marriage are not singular situations.

Sociological Perspective
The sociological perspective is a perspective on human behavior and its
connection to society as a whole. It invites us to look for the connections
between the behavior of individual people and the structures of the society in
which they live. Sociologists analyze social phenomena at different levels and
from different perspectives. From concrete interpretations to sweeping
generalizations of society and social behavior, sociologists study everything from
specific events.
Sociologists today employ three primary theoretical perspectives: the symbolic
interactionism perspective, the functionalist perspective, and the conflict
perspective. These perspectives offer sociologists theoretical paradigms for
explaining how society influences people.

Functionalism : Functionalism views society as a system of interrelated

parts. It is a macro (large scale) orientation because it studies how social
structures affect how a society works. Each aspect of society is interdependent
and contributes to society's functioning as a whole. The government, or state,
provides education for the children of the family, which in turn pays taxes on
which the state depends to keep itself running. That is, the family is dependent
upon the school to help children grow up to have good jobs so that they can raise
and support their own families. For example, during a financial recession with its
high rates of unemployment and inflation, social programs are trimmed or cut.
Schools offer fewer programs. Families tighten their budgets. And a new social
order, stability, and productivity occur.

Functionalists believe that society is held together by social consensus, or

cohesion, in which members of the society agree upon, and work together to
achieve, what is best for society as a whole. Emile Durkheim suggested that social
consensus takes one of two forms:
  Mechanical solidarity is a form of social cohesion that arises when people
in a society maintain similar values and beliefs and engage in similar types
of work. Mechanical solidarity most commonly occurs in traditional, simple
societies such as those in which everyone herds cattle or farms. Amish
society exemplifies mechanical solidarity.

 In contrast, organic solidarity is a form of social cohesion that arises when

the people in a society are interdependent, but hold to varying values and
beliefs and engage in varying types of work. Organic solidarity most
commonly occurs in industrialized, complex societies such those in large.

TYPES OF SUICIDE
Egoistic when people lack solidarity
Altruistic result when the level of solidarity is exceptionally high, suicide
bomber
Fatalistic result from too much social control
Anomic occur as a result of rapid change, usually economic

Criticism of Functionalism:
• Critics of functionalism sometimes claim that this paradigm does not take
into account the influence of wealth and power on the formation of
society.
• Functionalists are accused of supporting the status quo, even when it may
be harmful to do so.
• Functionalists may argue that society works for the greatest number of
people.
• Change will arise when problems become “big enough”.
• However, critics would argue that this belief results in many minorities
being ignored.
• Functionalist perspective often fails to recognize how inequalities in social
class, race, and gender perpetuate imbalance in our society.

Conflict Theory: Conflict theory is a theoretical framework that views

society in a struggle for scarce resources. Studies issues such as race, gender,
social class, criminal justice, and international relations. For example, may
interpret an “elite” board of regents raising tuition to pay for esoteric new
programs that raise the prestige of a local college as self‐serving rather than as
beneficial for students. Today, conflict theorists find social conflict between any
groups in which the potential for inequality exists: racial, gender, religious,
political, economic, and so on. Conflict theorists note that unequal groups usually
have conflicting values and agendas, causing them to compete against one
another. This constant competition between groups forms the basis for the ever‐
changing nature of society. The essence of conflict theory suggests that a pyramid
structure of power a wealth exists in society. The elite at the top of the pyramid
determine the rules for those below. The paradigm applies to social class, race,
gender, marriage, religion, population, environment, and a host of other social
phenomena.
Marx suggested that in a capitalist system, the bourgeoisie or members of the
capitalist class, own most of the wealth because they control the businesses and
the workers in a capitalist system the proletariat, the poor working class of
society. They do all the work and the owners reap all the benefits. It was because
of false consciousness or lack of understanding of their position in society. He
proposed that the works must develop class consciousness. He believed that once
workers recognized, they would unite to end the tyranny and oppression.

Criticism of Conflict:
 Critics of conflict theory often accuse it of being too radical.
 This paradigm often becomes synonymous with the idea that powerful
people oppress the weak.
 A simple reading of conflict theory can also seem to make the notion of
conflict seem like a bad thing.

Symbolic Interactionism: Symbolic interactionism, directs sociologists to

consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and
how people interact with each other. Although symbolic interactionism traces its
origins to Max Weber's assertion that individuals act according to their
interpretation of the meaning of their world. According to the symbolic
interactionism perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act
according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols. Conversation is an
interaction of symbols between individuals who constantly interpret the world
around them. Of course, anything can serve as a symbol as long as it refers to
something beyond itself. Written music serves as an example. They suggest that
the symbols we use are arbitrary, meaning that they vary from culture to culture.
Context and setting affects our understanding of a social event. Social order
results when the members of society share common definitions of what is
appropriate. Studies of relationships, race, deviance, and even social movements
can all use a symbolic interactionism approach.
Herbert Blumer established three basic premises that define the symbolic
interactionism perspective:
1. Human beings behave toward things on the basis of the meanings they
ascribe to those things.
2. The meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of the social
interaction that one has with others and society.
3. These meanings are handled in and modified through an interpretive
process used by the person in dealing with the things him or her
encounters.
Criticism of Symbolic Interactionism
Critics suggest that his perspective ignores the coercive effects of social structure,
focusing too much on the power of the individual to co-create his or her world.
How are the three paradigms interrelated?
 No single paradigm fits every situation.
 To get a complete picture, many sociologists use all three paradigms.
 In this way, the three paradigms are interrelated and work together to help
us figure out why society is the way it is.
 Status

Most people associate status with the prestige of a person’s lifestyle, education,
or vocation. According to sociologists, Status describes the position a person
occupies in a particular setting. We all occupy several statuses and play the roles
that may be associated with them. In every society people build their everyday
lives using the idea of status. In everyday use, the word status generally means
“prestige”. It is a part of our social identity and helps define our relationship to
others.

Status Set
The term status set refers to all the statuses a person hold at a given time. A
teenage girl may be a daughter to her parents, a sister to her brother, a student at
her school. It change over the life course,. A child grows up to become a parent, a
student. Over a lifetime, people gain and lose dozens of statuses.

Ascribed and Achieved Status

An ascribed status is a social position a person receives at birth or takes on
involuntarily later in life. It matter about which we have little or no choice.
For example, Daughter, a Cuban, a teenager or a widower.
An achieved status is a social position a person takes on voluntarily that reflects
personal ability and effort.
For example, Honors student, Olympic athlete, nurse, software, writer and thief.

In the real world, of course, most statuses involve a combination of ascription and
achievement. That is, people’s ascribed statuses influence the statuses they
achieve. People who achieve the status of lawyer, for example, are likely to share
the ascribed benefit of being born into relatively well-off families. By the same
token, many less desirable statuses, such as criminal, drug addict, or unemployed
worker, are more easily achieved by people born into poverty.
Master Status
A master status is a status that has special importance for social identity, often
shaping a person’s entire life. For most people, a job is a master status because it
reveals a great deal about a person’s social background, education, and income. It
can be negative as well as positive.
For example, serious illness. Sometimes people, even longtime friends, avoid
cancer patients or people with AIDS because of their illnesses. As another
example, the fact that all societies limit the opportunities of women makes
gender a master status. Sometimes a physical disability serves as a master status
to the point where we dehumanize people by seeing them only in terms of their
disability.
 Roles
A Role is the set of norms, values, behaviors, and personality characteristics
attached to a status. An individual may occupy the statuses of student, employee,
and club president and play one or more roles with each one. .A person holds a
status and performs a role. Both statuses and roles vary by culture. In every
society, actual role performance varies with an individual’s unique personality,
and some societies permit more individual expression of a role than others.

Role Set
Everyday life is a mix of many roles. The term role set to identify a number of
roles attached to a single status. A global perspective shows that the roles people
use to define their lives differ from society to society. In low-income countries,
people spend fewer years as students,and family roles are often very important to
social identity. In high-income nations, people spend more years as students, and
family roles are typically less important to social identity.

Role Conflict and Role Strain

Role Conflict results from the competing demands of two or more roles that vie
for our time and energy. The more statuses we have, and the more roles we take
on, the more likely we are to experience role conflict.
For Example, A working father is expected at work on time but is late because one
of his children is sick. His roles as father and employee are then in conflict. A role
for his father status dictates that he care for his sick child, while a role for his
employee status demands that he arrive at work on time.

Role strain refers to tension among the roles connected to a single status.
For Example, A college professor may enjoy being friendly with students. At the
same time, however, the professor must maintain the personal distance needed
to evaluate students fairly.

One strategy for minimizing role conflict is separating parts of our lives so that we
perform roles for one status at one time and place and carry out roles connected
to another status in a completely different setting. A familiar example of this idea
is deciding to “leave the job at work” before heading home to the family.

Role Exit
When an individual stops engaging in a role previously central to their identity
and the process of establishing a new identity.
For Example: When an individual retires from a long career and must transition
from the role of worker with deadlines and responsibilities to a leisurely life or
when an individual becomes a parent and has to change their lifestyle.
Role exit is commonly associated with any of two different factors: social
characteristics or role-set factors. Social characteristics refer to conditions such as
a person's marital status, sex and age. Role-set factors refer to elements linked
with a person's performance within the role. For instance, individuals unable to
participate in two or more exclusive roles may need to exit one. Role exits may
also occur because of a critical event or injury to the individual. Organizational
changes, doubts and altered expectations with the role may cause people to exit
the role.
 Culture
Culture is the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that
together form a people’s way of life. Culture includes what we think, how we act,
and what we own. Culture is both our link to the past and our guide to the future.
To understand all that culture is, we consider both thoughts and things.
Nonmaterial culture is the ideas created by members of a society, ideas that
range from art to Zen.
For Example, Food, clothing, cars, weapons and buildings.
Material culture, by contrast, is the physical things created by members of a
society, everything from armchairs to zippers. It consists of the intangible aspects
of a culture, such as values and beliefs.
A Value is a culturally approved concept about what is right or wrong, desirable or
undesirable. Values are a culture’s principles about how things should be and
differ greatly from society to society.
For Example, In the United States today, many women value thinness as a
standard of beauty. In Ghana, however, most people would consider American
fashion models sickly and undesirable. In that culture and others, robustness is
valued over skinniness as a marker of beauty.

Hierarchy of Cultures
In societies where there are different kinds of people, one group is usually larger
or more powerful than the others. Generally, societies consist of a dominant
culture, subcultures, and countercultures.

Dominant Culture: The Dominant Culture in a society is the group whose

members are in the majority or who wield more power than other groups.

Subculture: A Subculture is a group that lives differently from, but not opposed
to, the dominant culture. A subculture is a culture within a culture.
The Interaction of Cultures
When many different cultures live together in one society, misunderstandings,
biases, and judgments are inevitable—but fair evaluations, relationships, and
learning experiences are also possible. Cultures cannot remain entirely separate,
no matter how different they are, and the resulting effects are varied and
widespread.
Ethnocentrism is the tendency to judge another culture by the standards of one’s
own culture. Ethnocentrism usually entails the notion that one’s own culture is
superior to everyone else’s. Example: Americans tend to value technological
advancement, industrialization, and the accumulation of wealth. An American,
applying his or her own standards to a culture that does not value those things,
may view that culture as “primitive” or “uncivilized.” Such labels are not just
statements but judgments: they imply that it is better to be urbanized and
industrialized than it is to carry on another kind of lifestyle.When missionaries go
to other countries to convert the local people to their brand of religion, they are
practicing ethnocentrism. Missionaries usually want to convert people to their
own forms of worship, and they sometimes encourage people to give up their
religious beliefs.
Cultural Relativism is the examination of a cultural trait within the context of that
culture. Cultural relativists try to understand unfamiliar values and norms without
judging them and without applying the standards of their own culture.
Example: In India, the concepts of dating, love, and marriage differ from those in
the United States. Though love is important, parents choose their children’s
spouses according to similarities in educational levels, religions, castes, and family
backgrounds.
The practices of other cultures can be and often are jarring, and even the most
adept cultural relativist is not immune to culture shock. Culture Shock is the
surprise, disorientation, and fear people can experience when they encounter a
new culture. Example, Encountering an unfamiliar subculture in one’s own
country, spending time with very rich or very poor people, or spending time with
a group of people who hold radical or unfamiliar political views can produce
culture shock just as much as encountering a brand-new culture in a foreign
country.
 Groups

A social group is two or more people who identify with and interact with one
another. Human beings come together in couples, families, and circles of friends,
churches, clubs, businesses, neighborhoods, and large organizations. A group is
made up of people with shared experiences, loyalties and interests. .People all
over the country with a status in common, such as women, homeowners, soldiers,
millionaires, college graduates, and Roman Catholics are not a group but a
category.

Types of Groups
Primary groups: Primary groups play the most critical role in our lives. The
primary group is usually fairly small and is made up of individuals who generally
engage face-to-face in long-term emotional ways. This group serves emotional
needs: expressive functions rather than pragmatic ones. The primary group is
usually made up of significant others, those individuals who have the most impact
on our socialization. The best example of a primary group is the family.

Secondary groups are often larger and impersonal. They may also be task-focused
and time-limited. These groups serve an instrumental function rather than an
expressive one, meaning that their role is more goal- or task-oriented than
emotional. A classroom or office can be an example of a secondary group.

Neither primary nor secondary groups are bound by strict definitions or set limits.
In fact, people can move from one group to another. A graduate seminar, for
example, can start as a secondary group focused on the class at hand, but as the
students work together throughout their program, they may find common
interests and strong ties that transform them into a primary group.

In-Groups and Out-Groups

In-group is the group that an individual feels she belongs to, and she believes it to
be an integral part of who she is. An out-group is a group someone doesn’t belong
to; often we may feel disdain or competition in relationship to an out-group.
Sports teams, unions, and sororities are examples of in-groups and out-groups;
people may belong to, or be an outsider to, any of these. Primary groups consist
of both in-groups and out-groups, as do secondary groups.

Reference Groups
A reference group is a group that people compare themselves to—it provides a
standard of measurement. Most people have more than one reference group, so
a middle school boy might look not just at his classmates but also at his older
brother’s friends and see a different set of norms. And he might observe the
antics of his favorite athletes for yet another set of behaviors.
For Example, Cultural center, workplace, family gathering, and even parents. At all
ages, we use reference groups to help guide our behavior and show us social
norms.
Reference groups can also become your in-groups or out-groups. For instance,
different groups on campus might solicit you to join.
 Social Stratification
In all societies people differ from each other on the basis of their age, sex and
personal characteristics. Human society is not homogeneous but heterogeneous.
Apart from the natural differences, human beings are also differentiated
according to socially approved criteria. So socially differentiated men are treated
as socially unequal from the point of view of enjoyment of social rewards like
status, power, income etc. That may be called social inequality. The term social
inequality simply refers to the existence of socially created inequalities.
Social stratification is a particular form of social inequality. All societies arrange
their members in terms of superiority, inferiority and equality. Stratification is a
process of interaction or differentiation whereby some people come to rank
higher than others.

All societies are stratifies which mean segmented. All relation in society based on
power.

Types of Stratification
 Caste
 Class
 Gender

(i) Caste is a hereditary endogamous social group in which a person’s rank

and its accompanying rights and obligations are ascribed on the basis of
his birth into a particular group. For example-Brahmins, Kshatrias,
Vaishyas and Shudras Caste.
(ii) Class-Stratification on the basis of class is dominant in modern society.
In this, a person’s position depends to a very great extent upon
achievement and his ability to use to advantage the inborn
characteristics and wealth that he may possess.
(iii) Gender-Stratification refers to the social ranking, where men typically
inhabit higher statuses than women. Often the terms gender
inequality and gender stratification are used interchangeably. There are
a variety of approaches to the study of gender stratification. Most of the
research in this area focuses on differences between men’s and
women’s life circumstances, broadly defined.
 Social Mobility
Social mobility refers to the movement within the social structure, from one social
position to another. It means a change in social status. All societies provide some
opportunity for social mobility. But the societies differ from each other to extent
in which individuals can move from one class or status level to another. It differs
from society to society from time to time.

Types of Social Mobility

 Vertical Mobility
 Horizontal Mobility

Vertical Mobility: It refers to the movement of people from one stratum to

another or from one status to another. It brings changes in class, occupation and
power. It involves movement from lower to higher or higher to lower. There are
two types of vertical mobility. One is upward and other is downward mobility.

When an individual moves from lower status to higher status, it is called upward
mobility. For example, if the son of a peon joins a bank as an officer, it is said to
be upward social mobility but if he loses the job due to any other reason or
inefficiency, he is downwardly mobile from his previous job. So downward
mobility takes place when a person moves down from one position to another
and change his status.

Horizontal Mobility: It refers to the movement of people from one social group
to another situated on the same level. It means that the ranks of these two
groups are not different. It indicates change in position without the change in
status. For example, if a teacher leaves one school and joins another school or a
bank officer leaves one branch to work in another or change of residence are the
horizontal mobility.

1. Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual

differences.
2. Social stratification carries over from generation to generation.
3. Social stratification is universal but variable.
4. Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well.