The similarity of the living conditions.
Commonality of needs.
Joint activities
Formation of your own culture.
Social identification of members of a community, their very inclusion in this community
Social communities are distinguished by an unusual variety of specific forms and types. They can vary:
· By quantitative composition: from several persons to numerous masses;
By the duration of existence: from minutes and hours (for example, train passengers, theater auditorium) to centuries and millennia (for example, ethnic groups)
· By the degree of connection between individuals: from relatively stable associations to very amorphous, random formations (for example, a queue, a crowd, an audience of listeners, fans of football teams), which are called quasigroups or social aggregations. They are characterized by the fragility of relationships between people in contact.
· Social communities are divided into stable (for example, a nation) and short-term (for example, passengers on a bus). Types of social communities:
Class communities and layers.
Historical forms of community.
Socio-demographic communities.
Corporate communities.
Ethnic and territorial communities.
Communities that have developed depending on the interest of individuals.
Classifications of social groups:
IN basis of the first classification is based on such a criterion (sign) as the number, i.e. the number of people who are members of the group. Accordingly, there are three types of groups:
1) small group - a small community of people who are in direct personal contact and interaction with each other;
2) the middle group is a relatively large community of ideas that are in an indirect functional interaction.
3) a large group - a large community of people who are socially and structurally dependent on each other.
| Sign | Number | Contact | Membership | Structure | Connections in the labor process | Examples of |
| Small | Dozens of people | Personal: getting to know each other on a personal level | Real behavioral | Developed internal informal | Direct labor | A team of workers, a classroom, a group of students, employees of the department |
| Average | Hundreds of people | Status-role: acquaintance at the status level | Functional | Legally formalized (lack of a developed informal structure) | Labor mediated by the official structure of the organization | Organization of all employees of an enterprise, university, company |
| Big | Thousands and millions of people | Lack of contact | Conditional social-structural | Lack of internal structure | Labor mediated by the social structure of society | Ethnic community, socio-demographic group, professional community, political party |
Second classification associated with such a criterion as time, the existence of the group. Here short-term and long-term groups are distinguished. Small, medium and large groups can be both short-term and long-term. For example: an ethnic community is always a long-term group, and political parties can exist for centuries, or they can very quickly disappear from the historical scene. Such a small group, such as a brigade of workers, can be either short-term: people unite to complete one production task and, having completed it, part, or long-term - people work their entire working life at one enterprise in the same team. Third classification relies on such a criterion as the structural integrity of the group. On this basis, primary and secondary groups are distinguished. A primary group is a structural subdivision of an official organization, which cannot be further decomposed into its component parts, for example: a team, department, laboratory, department, etc. The primary group is always a small formal group. A secondary group is a collection of primary small groups. An enterprise with several thousand employees, for example "Izhorskiye Zavody" is called secondary (or primary, since it consists of smaller structural divisions of workshops, departments. The secondary group is almost always a middle group.
B. 18 "Social organizations and movements."
Social organization - the system of social groups and relations between them. Distinguish between production, labor, socio-political and other social organizations. According to A. I. Prigogine, a social organization is a group of people, jointly and coordinating a common goal.
Organization as a social system is distinguished by its complexity, since its main element is a person who has his own subjectivity and a wide range of choice of behavior.
Signs of social organization:
1 ... the presence of goals; 2 ... concrete embodiment of public power relations; 3 ... a set of functional provisions (statuses) and social roles; 4 ... rules governing the relationship between roles; 5 ... formalization of a significant part of goals, objectives and relationships (creation of standard patterns of behavior for individuals, contractual, documentary consolidation of rules and norms in a certain unified system).
Functions of a social organization: 1).Integration and socialization of individuals into the system of social relations; 2). Ordering and social control over the actions of members of the organization in areas vital to them.
Types of organizational forms:
1. Business organizations (firms and institutions that arise for commercial purposes or to solve specific problems). In these organizations, the goals of employees do not always coincide with those of the owners or the state. The basis of internal regulation is the administrative procedure.
2. Public unions. The goals pursued by public unions are a generalization of the individual goals of their members. Regulation is based on the principle of electivity and is carried out in accordance with a jointly adopted statute.
3. Intermediate forms that combine the features of social unions and entrepreneurial functions (artels, cooperatives, etc.).
Social movement - massive or collective actions of one or several social groups related to ensuring group or public interests and aimed at social changes or resistance to them in conflict with other social groups. Classification of social movements
1. Social movements differ from each other in the scale of the proposed changes. Some of them have relatively modest goals and do not seek to transform the main institutional structures (anti-abortion movements, in defense of animal rights). Other movements seek deeper transformations affecting the foundations of social organization (civil rights movements in the United States, anti-apartheid in South Africa). If the proposed changes concern the foundations of the social structure, then we are talking about revolutionary movements.
2. Social movements differ depending on the goals of their own activity. Some focus on changing social structures, others on personality change. The former, in turn, are divided into sociopolitical movements that try to bring about changes in politics, economics, cause shifts in stratification structures, and sociocultural movements that seek to change beliefs, values, norms (beatniks, hippies, punks). Personality-changing movements are also of two kinds. The first is mystical or religious movements that fight to save their members (Islamic fundamentalist movements). The second is movement that calls for self-improvement.
3. Combining the criterion of purpose with the criterion of range, David Aberl proposed a four-tier classification of social movements: transformative, aimed at a complete change of structures; reformatory aimed at their partial changes; salvation movements aiming to completely transform the members of society; alternative, suggesting their partial change.
4. Social movements differ according to the nature of their demands. Some movements seek to create new institutions, introduce new laws, introduce a new way of life, new beliefs (movements of the Republicans, socialists, movements for the liberation of women). They can be called progressive. Other movements are drawn to the past, that is, they seek to restore institutions, laws, lifestyles and beliefs that once existed, but were forgotten or discarded in the course of history. They can be called conservative or retroactive. Examples include the environmental movement; the movement for ethnic revival in Eastern and Central Europe, which emerged after the collapse of communism.
5. Social movements differ depending on the strategy, the internal logic of their activities. Some follow an “instrumental” logic; their primary goal is political control. If this succeeds, then such movements turn into pressure groups or political parties, enter parliaments and governments (the Green Party in Germany, Solidarity in Poland). Others follow an “expressive” logic, seeking to achieve autonomy, equal rights, cultural or political emancipation for their members or wider communities. These are the movements for civil rights, ethnic, feminist, etc.
B. 19 Social institutions: structure and basic functions.
Social institutions - historically established stable forms of joint activities of people, enshrined in social norms and customs. They are classified by public domain:
· Economic (property, wages, division of labor), which serve the production and distribution of values \u200b\u200band services;
· Political (parliament, army, police, party) regulate the use of these values \u200b\u200band services and are associated with power;
· The institutions of kinship (marriage and family) are associated with the regulation of childbirth, relations between spouses and children, socialization of young people;
· Institutions of culture (museums, clubs) are associated with religion, science, education, etc.
· Institutions of stratification (castes, estates, classes) that determine the distribution of resources and positions.
Representatives of the institutional school in sociology (S. Lipset, D. Landberg, etc.) four main functions of social institutions:
1. Reproduction of members of society. The main institution performing this function is the family, but other social institutions, such as the state, are also involved.
2. Socialization - the transfer to individuals of the patterns of behavior and methods of activity established in a given society - the institutions of the family, education, religion, etc.
3. Production and distribution. Provided by economic and social institutions of management and control - authorities.
4. The functions of management and control are carried out through a system of social norms and prescriptions that implement the appropriate types of behavior: moral and legal norms, customs, administrative decisions, etc. Social institutions control the behavior of an individual through a system of sanctions.
In addition to solving its specific tasks, each social institution performs universal functions inherent to all of them. Common to all social institutions functions include the following:
The function of consolidating and reproducing social relations. Each institution has a set of norms and rules of behavior, enshrined, standardizing the behavior of its participants and making this behavior predictable. Social control provides the order and framework in which the activities of each member of the institution should proceed. Thus, the institution ensures the stability of the structure of society. The family institution code assumes that members of society are divided into stable small groups - families. Social control ensures the state of stability of each family, limits the possibility of its disintegration.
Regulatory function.It ensures the regulation of relationships between members of society by developing models and patterns of behavior. All human life proceeds with the participation of various social institutions, but each social institution regulates activities. Therefore, with the help of social institutions, a person demonstrates predictability and standard behavior, fulfills role requirements and expectations.
Integrative function. This function ensures the cohesion, interdependence and mutual responsibility of the members. This happens under the influence of institutionalized norms, values, rules, a system of roles and sanctions. It streamlines the system of interactions, which leads to an increase in the stability and integrity of the elements of the social structure.
Broadcast function... Society cannot develop without the transfer of social experience. Each institution for its normal functioning needs the arrival of new people who have mastered its rules. This happens by changing the social boundaries of the institution and changing generations. Consequently, every institution provides a mechanism for socialization to its values, norms, roles.
Communicative functions... The information produced by the institute should be disseminated both within the institute (for the purpose of managing and monitoring the observance of social norms) and in the interaction between institutions. This function has its own specificity - formal connections. The institution of mass media has this main function. Scientific institutions actively perceive information. The commutative capabilities of institutions are not the same: some are inherent to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent.
B.20 Criteria of social progress.
Social progress - the totality of all progressive changes in society, its development from simple to complex, the transition from a lower level to a higher one. General criteria:the development of the human mind, the improvement of people's morality, the development of productive forces, including the person himself, the progress of science and technology, an increase in the degree of freedom that society can provide to a person.
Humanistic criteria:average human life expectancy, child and maternal mortality, health status, level of education, development of various spheres of culture, sense of life satisfaction, degree of respect for human rights, attitude to nature.
A relatively small number of authors argue that the very formulation of the question of a single criterion of social progress is illegal, since human society is a complex organism, the development of which is carried out along different lines, which makes it impossible to formulate a single criterion. Most authors consider it possible to formulate a single general sociological criterion of social progress.
However, even in the very formulation of such a criterion, there are significant discrepancies. One part of scientists argues that the general sociological criterion of social progress is the production forces of society.
A serious argument in favor of this position is that the very history of mankind begins with the manufacture of tools and exists due to the continuity in the development of productive forces.
The disadvantage of this criterion is that the assessment of production forces in statics involves taking into account their number, nature, the level of development achieved and the associated labor productivity, the ability to grow, which is very important when comparing different countries and stages of historical development. For example, the number of production forces in modern India is greater than in South Korea, and their quality is lower. If the development of productive forces is taken as a criterion for progress; their assessment in dynamics, then this presupposes a comparison no longer from the point of view of the greater or lesser development of the productive forces, but from the point of view of the course, the speed of their development. But in this case, the question arises, what period should be taken for comparison.
Another part of the authors, taking into account the difficulties that arise when using the criterion considered above, believe that all difficulties will be overcome if we take the method of production of material goods as a general sociological criterion of social progress. A weighty argument in favor of this position is that the foundation of social progress is the development of the mode of production as a whole, that, taking into account the state and growth of productive forces, as well as the nature of production relations, it is possible to show much more fully the progressive nature of one formation in relation to another.
Far from denying that the transition from one mode of production to another, more progressive, underlies progress in a number of other areas, opponents of this point of view almost always note that the main question remains unresolved: how to determine the very progressiveness of this new production method.
At first glance, this two-pronged criterion of social progress captivates by the fact that it is taken into account in the unity of man's relationship to nature and to society, to natural and social forces.
However, the "Achilles heel" of this position lies not only in the internal inconsistency of the elements of the proposed criterion, but also in its focus on analyzing the antagonistic form of social progress.
The fourth group of authors, rightly believing that human society is, first of all, a developing community of people, puts forward the development of a person himself as a general sociological criterion of social progress.
The most important argument in favor of such a criterion of social progress is what speaks of the progressive development of mankind, not to mention the progress of man, the people who make up this mankind, is absurd. It is also indisputable that the course of human history really testifies to the development of people who make up human society, their social and individual forces, abilities, inclinations.
B. 21 The concept of society. Types and structure of society.
Society - a part of the material world that is isolated from nature, but closely connected with it, which includes methods of social interaction and forms of uniting people who are able to create tools of labor and use them in the labor process. In the broadest sense of the word, it is a set of all types of social interaction of people and forms of organizing their joint life, which have developed historically.
Social structure of society - this is a stable connection between subjects of social life, which differ in the degree of ownership of property, income, power, prestige, education. This is the modern interpretation of the concept under consideration.
The concept of "society" is ambiguous. In historical science there are concepts - "primitive society", "medieval society", "Russian society", meaning a certain stage in the historical development of mankind or a specific country.
Society is usually understood as:
A certain stage in human history (primitive society, medieval, etc.);
People united by common goals and interests (society of the Decembrists, society of book lovers);
Population of a country, state, region (European society, Russian society);
All of humanity (human society).
Society functions: production of goods of life; systematization of production; human reproduction and socialization; distribution of labor results; ensuring the legality of the state's administrative activities; structuring the political system; the formation of ideology; historical transmission of culture and spiritual values.
Human society includes a number of areas - spheres of public life:
- economic - relations between people in the process of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material and non-material goods, services and information;
- social - interaction of large social groups, classes, strata, demographic groups;
- political - activities of state organizations, parties and movements associated with the conquest, retention and exercise of power;
- spiritual - moral, religion, science, education, art, their impact on people's lives.
Under public relations understands the diverse connections that arise between people in the process of economic, social, political, cultural life and activities. There are relationships in the sphere of material production, in spiritual life.
15. The concept of "social group". Signs of a social group. Group-forming processes.
Social group - it is an objectively existing stable community, a set of individuals interacting in a certain way based on several characteristics, in particular, the shared expectations of each member of the group in relation to others.
The concept of a group as an independent one, along with the concepts of personality (individual) and society, is already found in Aristotle. In modern times, T. Hobbes was the first to define a group as "a known number of people united by a common interest or common cause."
Under social group it is necessary to understand any objectively existing stable set of people connected by a system of relations governed by formal or informal social institutions. Society in sociology is viewed not as a monolithic entity, but as a set of many social groups interacting and being in a certain dependence on each other. Each person during his life belongs to many similar groups, including a family, a friendly team, a student group, a nation, etc. The creation of groups is facilitated by similar interests and goals of people, as well as the realization of the fact that by combining actions, a significantly greater result can be achieved than by individual action. At the same time, the social activity of each person is largely determined by the activities of those groups in which he is included, as well as by interaction within and between groups. It can be argued with full confidence that only in a group does a person become a person and is able to find complete self-expression.
Signs
the presence of an internal organization;
general (group) purpose of the activity;
group forms of social control;
samples (models) of group activities;
intense group interactions;
a sense of group belonging or membership;
role-based, coordinated with each other, participation of group members in common activities or complicity;
role expectations of group members relative to each other.
Group-forming processes. -
16. Social communities: national-ethnic, socio-territorial.
Society as an integral sociocultural system consists of many subsystems with various backbone integral qualities. One of the most important types of social subsystems are social communities... As a rule, in general people unitehaving similar interests, goals, functions and statuses conditioned by them, social roles, cultural needs.
Classification of social communities
The systematization of the views of modern sociologists on this issue allows us to single out a number of potential and real, necessary and sufficient grounds for identifying a community:
similarity, proximity of living conditions people (as a potential prerequisite for the emergence of an association);
common needs of people, their subjective awareness similarities their interests (a real prerequisite for the emergence of solidarity);
the presence of interaction, joint activities, interrelated exchange of activities (direct in the community, mediated in modern society);
the formation of their own culture: a system of internal norms of relationships, ideas about the goals of community, morality, etc.;
strengthening the organization of the community, creating a system of governance and self-government;
social identification of community members, their self-assignment to this community.
Social community - it is a collection of individuals united the same living conditions, values, interests, norms, social connection and awareness of social identity, serving in as a subject of social life.
Mass social communities include:
ethnic communities (races, nations, nationalities, tribes);
socio-territorial communities are aggregates of people permanently residing in a certain territory, formed on the basis of socio-territorial differences, having a similar lifestyle,
social classes and social strata (these are aggregates of people who have common social characteristics and perform similar functions in the system of social division of labor). Classes are distinguished in connection with the relation to ownership of the means of production and the nature of the appropriation of goods.
Social strata (or strata) are distinguished on the basis of differences in the nature of work and way of life (the differences in the way of life are most evident).
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Question number 1 Concept and basic features of social institutions.
Social institutions (from Lat. Institutum - establishment, establishment) are historically established stable forms of organizing joint activities of people that perform socially significant functions. The term social institution is used in a wide variety of meanings: they speak of the institution of the family, the institution of education, the institution of the army, the institution of religion, etc. In all these cases, we mean relatively stable types and forms of social activity, connections and relations, through which social life is organized, the stability of connections and relations is ensured.
The main purpose of social institutions is to ensure the satisfaction of vital needs. Thus, the institution of the family satisfies the need for the reproduction of the human race and the upbringing of children, regulates relations between sexes, generations, etc. The need for security and social order is provided by political institutions, the most important of which is the institution of the state. The need to obtain livelihoods and the distribution of values \u200b\u200bis provided by economic institutions. The need for knowledge transfer, socialization of the younger generation, training of personnel is provided by educational institutions. The need for solving spiritual and, above all, life-meaning problems is provided by the institution of religion.
Social institutions can be characterized from two sides: from the point of view of external, formal structure and from the point of view of internal, meaningful activity. From its external side, a social institution is a collection of persons and institutions that have certain material resources and perform a specific social function. In terms of its internal content, a social institution is a collection of certain standardized patterns of behavior. Thus, a social institution is a mechanism that ensures the stability and stability of society, its normal reproduction and development.
M. Weber identified two characteristic features of social institutions:
1. A social institution is a set of people to whom they are enrolled on the basis of objective data - profession, level of education, availability of certain knowledge, skills, etc.
2. The presence in such an association of rational attitudes, rules, norms that must be followed by all subjects that make up this social institution.
As a result, a social institution can be defined as a highly organized system of social relations and interactions, characterized by a stable social structure, the integration of all elements into a single whole, the diversity and dynamism of functions, and the presence of certain standards of behavior.
A social institution in the process of its functioning reduces the diverse actions and actions of people into certain types of activities and social relations. Institutions are characterized by a clear delineation of social statuses and roles, powers and responsibilities of each of the subjects of interaction, consistency, regulation of these actions and control over their implementation. This ensures the predictability of human behavior, the stability of social ties and the very social structure of society. The social institution acts as a leading element of the social structure of society. It integrates and coordinates many individual and group actions, regulates social relations in certain spheres of social life. So, political institutions carry out the socio-political integration of social groups and communities within the social system of society, cultural institutions carry out the functions of normative regulation of people's behavior on the basis of a system of values \u200b\u200band ideals.
Social institutions are able to fulfill their purpose by streamlining, standardizing and formalizing social activities, connections and relationships. This process of ordering, standardization and formalization is called institutionalization. Institutionalization is nothing more than the process of forming a social institution.
The institutionalization process includes a number of points.
The prerequisite for the emergence of social institutions is the emergence of a need, the satisfaction of which requires joint organized actions, as well as the conditions that ensure this satisfaction.
Another prerequisite for the institutionalization process is the formation of common goals of a particular community. Man, as you know, is a social being, and people try to fulfill their needs by acting together. An important moment in the process of institutionalization is the emergence of values, social norms and rules of behavior in the course of spontaneous interaction, carried out by the method of trial and error.
A necessary step towards institutionalization is the consolidation of these patterns of behavior as binding norms, first on the basis of public opinion and then authorization by formal authorities. On this basis, a system of sanctions is being developed.
Thus, institutionalization, first of all, is the process of defining and consolidating social values, norms, patterns of behavior, statuses and roles, bringing them into a system that is capable of acting in the direction of meeting certain vital needs.
And the last important element of institutionalization is the organizational design of a social institution. Outwardly, a social institution is a collection of persons, institutions, supplied with certain material resources and performing a certain social function.
Based on the foregoing, the following definition of a social institution can be given. Social institutions are organized associations of people performing certain socially significant functions that ensure the joint achievement of goals based on the roles performed, set by social values, norms and patterns of behavior.
A person must make the world a better place, because progress is the law of being. What should be the conditions for a person's existence and his relationship with other participants in society in order for him to be able to fulfill the task? This question has been facing humanity since the beginning of its conscious existence.
Man and society
The importance of society in the life of people is great, because only in the social environment favorable conditions are created for the survival of a particular person or group of persons. In society, people help each other to solve problems, develop and improve, uniting in various groups. What are the main features of a social group?
Primary social group
A social group of people is a structural unit of society in which its participants have common features and, interacting with each other, satisfy their needs. The whole society consists of such social groups. At the same time, a group of people, for example, waiting for transport at a bus stop or gathered at a concert, cannot be called a social group due to the absence of such signs.
Consider what are the main features of a social group. The very first social group that a person gets to know is the family. In it, people are connected by a common way of life and are responsible for each other. It is the family that becomes the first link for the child that connects him with society. Then the person gets involved in other groups such as kindergarten and school.
They have close contact between all members of the group, the distribution of responsibilities and roles, and certain norms of behavior are observed. Such communities are called primary social groups. They are very important to a person and prepare him to participate in larger groups.
Secondary social group
Further development of a person in society takes place in other collectives, such as industrial institutions, universities, and so on. These, as a rule, larger groups no longer require close communication from their members. The main thing for them is to achieve certain goals. And this is the main feature of the social group in this case. If this is production, then the main goal of the group is to produce high-quality products, and for universities it is an excellent assimilation of the material and mastery of the specialty by students.
Small and large social groups
Most of the primary social groups are also small groups at the same time, since their composition is small. But these include small associations of people for the implementation of industrial or entrepreneurial activities. The main features of a social group are in this case the possibility of communication between all its members and the emotional coloring of this communication.
For large social groups, contact between members is not necessary because they include large groups of people such as political parties, sports organizations and entire nationalities. The main feature of a large social group is the community of interests of all its members. For example, everyone knows how important it is for each nationality to learn the native language and traditions of its people.
Characteristics and main features of large social groups
It is also known how important peace and friendship between peoples are. And peoples are large social groups. Therefore, the study of these groups is very important for understanding interethnic relations. All large social groups in society can be divided into the following main types:
- The intelligentsia, whose main activity is mental work. It is the intelligentsia that manages production, ensures scientific and technological progress and the development of culture.
- Workers, by whose hands all material values \u200b\u200bare created.
- Peasants with a rural lifestyle and creating food.
- A nation that shares a common historical background, language, culture and traditions.
- A class is a certain community of people who occupy one position in relation to the means of production.
It is clear that any member of society can belong to several social groups at once.
Interethnic conflicts
The interaction between ethnic groups is influenced by various factors. These include national and historical contradictions, linguistic and cultural differences, separatist sentiments, religious and other features. Sociological studies of interethnic conflicts have shown that there are the following factors aggravating the situation:
- mixed ethnic composition of the region;
- the presence of radical views among representatives of the conflict;
- the low level of education of the participants in the conflict, while the leading role in this process belongs to the intelligentsia.
It is known that every nation is characterized by certain stereotypes of behavior, which are instilled from childhood and manifest on a subconscious level. These stereotypes force a person to separate “us” from “others”. Therefore, “ours” are endowed with better qualities, and “strangers” - with worse qualities. This property of a social group is used by the organizers of color revolutions to incite interethnic hatred.
Preventing such conflicts is a public policy task. The state should promote the establishment of good-neighborly relations between people of different nationalities, designate common goals that would be of interest to all the nations of the country, and also explain the technology of color revolutions to the population. In particular, when passing the topic "What are the main features of a social group" in the 8th grade of secondary school, you need to point out these technologies.
Formal and informal social groups
A group within which activities are subject to laws and regulations is called a formal social group. It has a hierarchical subordination structure and governing bodies. An example of such a group is any manufacturing enterprise, as well as the state itself.
What are the main features of a social group that can be called informal? And this is a group whose activities are not regulated by laws. There is no administrative subordination in it, and the leader of such a group is called the informal leader. Vivid representatives of informal social groups are various subcultures that often arise among young people. For example, in the 50s of the XX century in the Soviet Union there was a subculture of "dudes", which with its variegated appearance expressed protest of the post-war dullness and the policy of universal equalization. Further, in the 80s, subcultures of "punks" and "hippies" appeared. They were joined by "goths", "metalheads" and "rockers" in the 90s. Belonging to "informals" implied a certain style of dress and demeanor. The meeting places in these groups began to be called hangouts, and hitchhiking became commonplace for them.
Group consciousness
Group consciousness is understood as the degree of awareness of the group of its main goals and current tasks. There are several subspecies that have such basic characteristics of a social group as it should have, but with a low group consciousness. These are, for example, a cooperation group and a corporation group. The only social group with a high level of group consciousness, understanding its goals and serving the principles of humanism is the collective.
The team is characterized by high morale, good relations between its members and ensuring the creative development of each of its employees. It is clear that not every social group can be called a collective. If the mental and physiological compatibility of its members is added to the listed qualities of a collective, then such a collective is called gomphoter, which means “knocked down”. An example of such a team is the cosmonaut crew.
Int-groups and ext-groups
If the activity of a social group is aimed at its members, as, for example, in sports clubs, then such a group is called an int-group.
If the activity of a social group is aimed at society, then this group is called an ext-group. Various volunteer associations are a good example of such a group.
Progress for humanity means not only the development of technology and technology, but also the absence of wars and interethnic conflicts. By understanding what are the main features of a social group, one can understand the processes taking place in society and influence them. Then the world will be better.
AND METHODOLOGY OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Sociology
Social attributes, social groups and social spheres
The meaning of "social" can be revealed only by drawing up the mechanism of its formation in the context of the structural logic of the constituent elements and indicating social specifics.
· The area of \u200b\u200bexclusively human existence;
· Interaction of people on the basis of certain needs;
· The formation and activation as a result of this interaction of social attributes, each of which, taking different concrete values, thus creates a positional hierarchy;
· Education in place of each position of groups of people entering into meaningful relationships with each other;
· The process of institutional organization of these groups as a way to meet the initial social needs and to express and protect their interests in terms of regulating social activity;
· Creation and distribution of social objects as factors of social satisfaction.
The principal connecting role in this logic is played by social characteristics and the social groups formed by them.
A social feature is a factor of social activity that functions exclusively in the process of social interaction of people and is capable of forming a hierarchy of social groups.
Examples: income, ownership of the means of production, ideology, ethnicity, religious belief, education. In addition to their specific applied functions, all social characteristics carry a fundamental load - taking different meanings, they position the social hierarchy (social group inequality).
The typologization of social characteristics takes place:
· By spheres of social activity: economic, political, religious, etc .;
· In complexity - simple and complex as the integration of simple ones;
· According to the criterion of the formation of the social-group hierarchy: quantitative, qualitative and mixed - quantitative and qualitative;
· According to the philosophical criterion: subjective - components of social-group inequality, where human consciousness is a factor of positional change, and objective, in the vectors of which movement is either impossible (ethnicity and gender), or does not depend on subjective thought (age).
Social groups are usually defined by the unity of social interests, which is not entirely accurate in the sense of the secondary nature of social interests in relation to a specific position of a social attribute. In addition, for many large social groups-communities, the formal unity of interests is so neutralized by the interpersonal value-ideological difference that it is simply incorrect to talk about the goal-motivational integrativity of these groups.
Thus, a social group should primarily be interpreted as a set of people occupying the same position-location (status) in the social hierarchy, formed by a certain social attribute. The typology of social groups is carried out according to the spheres of social activity (economic, political, religious, etc.), number, composition (simple and complex), as well as according to the criterion of accessibility (closed and open - easy and difficult to access).
Note the presence of large socio-positional groups (it is their context that is present in the scientific definition), which in sociological literature are often referred to as social communities - for example, classes and nations, and microgroups with relatively constant and universal interpersonal contact, where narrow social interest and the psychological factor gains some importance.
The most important role property of social groups is their ability to organize to meet social needs and to express and protect their interests in terms of regulating social activity. The legal forms of such organizations are called social institutions. Although institutions carry the highest organizational social quality, they are secondary in relation to social-group activity both in terms of formation and in the aspect of instrumentation.
Certain social groups and corresponding institutions constitute the active subject core of each social sphere. Often this term denotes either the area of \u200b\u200bbudgetary allocation, or the lower level of the economic hierarchy based on income, requiring government support and protection. This rather everyday and applied understanding incorrectly reduces the category of the social sphere to a narrow, exclusively economic meaning. In this study, it is proposed to define the social sphere for all areas of social activity - economy, politics, religion, art, pedagogy, etc. What they have in common is the same mechanism of formation, and the fundamental difference lies in their specific content - each sphere arises on the basis of specific social needs, contains its own social characteristics and group hierarchy of subjects, its institutions and social objects as a factor of social satisfaction and the result of subjective organizational activity.
Consider in this logic the most important social spheres - economics and politics. It is in these areas that a significant part of the study will take place, and it is here that the fundamental elements that determine the quality of the entire sociality are located.
