View
222
Download
0
Category
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
Meeting Needs through Groups Group Functions 1. Improve the quality of member’s lives Feminist organizations 2. Empowerment Aboriginal self-government 3. Improving social status Advocacy groups – work on behalf of a cause or principle Famous Five and the Person’s Case 4. Relieving others’ suffering Non-profit organizations – tax rebates NGO’s (MSF – Doctor’s without Borders), Free the Children
Citation preview
Unit 4 B – Types of Groups
Groups and OrganizationsConflict and Cohesion
Part I
Types of Groups
Meeting Needs through Groups Group Functions
1. Improve the quality of member’s lives Feminist organizations
2. Empowerment Aboriginal self-government
3. Improving social status Advocacy groups – work on behalf of a cause or principle
Famous Five and the Person’s Case
4. Relieving others’ suffering Non-profit organizations – tax rebates NGO’s (MSF – Doctor’s without Borders), Free the Children
Meeting Needs through Groups Group Functions continued
5. Achieving Social Goals Goals that affect a wider community
gun control laws Council of Canadians – lobby politicians to protect
Canada’s social programs, promote economic fairness, and preserve Canadian independence
6. Achieving Environmental Goals Members have a variety of ways to contribute
Greenpeace, Sierra Club
Part II
Group membership
The Anthropologist’s PerspectiveCollectivist Outlook
People in a group put the group welfare above individual welfare Pre-industrial cultures, many Asian cultures, not North
America
Commitment to a group and level of co-operation with its demands relates to how well and thoroughly the group meets an individual’s needs. If a group is not meeting our needs we will be less
committed or co-operative
The Psychologist’s Perspective
Conformity
When a person adjusts his or her thoughts and behaviour to match the group
Two examples of extreme conformity
1. People’s Temple – 900 simultaneous suicides by cult members
2. Nazi War Criminals – argued that they are not responsible because they were “following orders”
The Milgram Conformity Experiment The “teacher” is actually the volunteer
subject of the experiment
The “learner” and the “experimenter” are acting
The “teacher” must press a button to send an electric shock every time the learner gets a question wrong
63% of the subjects continued even after the “death” of the subject from electric shock.
Why important?
People will easily conform to AUTHORITY to harm others and themselves
The Sociologist’s Perspective
Identifying too strongly with a group can result in non-members seen as lacking skills or worth “in” groups and “out”
groups e.g. Nazis and Jews,
Jocks and “Trench Coat Mafia” etc.
Trench Coat Mafia – Columbine High school
Nazis with Jews
The Stockholm Syndrome First documented case in
1973, in Stockholm, Sweden.
Bank robbers held 4 hostages for 6 days
The hostages resisted rescue and refused to testify against their captors
One hostage even became romantically involved with one of the robbers 1973 bank robbery in Sweden
during which the captives assisted, and then later refused to testify against their kidnappers.
The Stockholm Syndrome continued Conditions that create the syndrome:
Process begins after about 3-4 days in captivity Captive becomes committed to trying to keep the captor
happy – eventually identify with the captor Captor must threaten to kill the hostage No hope of escape Occasional kindnesses by captor Completely isolated from outside world
Similar to “Battered Wife Syndrome” Humans will go along with abusive situations if they can see
no other way, and they see the abuser in a position of authority
Recommended