VCE SociologyUnit 3 Outcome 1Community and society

‘Factors that help both maintain and weaken a sense of community’

Sense of community•A sense of community focuses on the

experience of community rather than its structure, form or physical features

•It involves a feeling that members have of belonging and connection to one another and the group

•A sense of community is often a “sense of belonging”, aka “community spirit”

•It can be maintained, strengthened or weakened

Sense of community•Think of a community you belong to• Identify any pre-requisites for

membership to the community•Explain why the community is important

to you or why you benefit from it•Describe how a sense of belonging is

created within the community

Maintain sense of community•A sense of community can be maintained

or strengthened by:▫Shared values and beliefs▫Identifying features▫Typical behaviours▫Shared interest and purposes

Maintain sense of community•Shared values and beliefs

▫Members share the same religion, ideologies or codes of behaviour

▫A karate community may: Support Japanese militarism View karate as a psychological endeavor

promoting perseverance, fearlessness, virtue, and leadership skills

Aim to be inwardly humble and outwardly gentle

Maintain sense of community•Identifying features

▫Members can be identified by language spoken, symbols/flags, anthems, clothing, food, music, dance, etc

▫Some private school communities may have: Compulsory school uniforms School logo on school bag All students conforming to certain haircuts

Maintain sense of community•Typical behaviours

▫Behaviour that brings members together such as meetings, social days/nights or working bees.

▫A sporting community may participate in: Team training Raising funds through a sausage sizzle at

Bunnings Competitions against other teams

Maintain sense of community•Shared interest and purposes

▫Fundraising, achieving a goal or promoting a cause

▫A health-based community might: Lobby for a change to fast food advertising Increase fitness in children through school

programs Educate adults about childhood obesity

Maintain sense of community•Think of a community• Identify examples of how SITS has

developed, maintained or strengthened a sense of community

•Explain whether a community can exist without incorporating all of the SITS categories

Maintain sense of community•American sociologist Roland L. Warren

(1963) categorises a community as:▫A place in or near a definite geographical

location▫A place of physical and psychological

security that serves as a home base▫Performing the following functions:

Mutual support Economic welfare Socialisation Social control Social participation

Maintain sense of community•Mutual support

▫Helping each other with tasks that are too big for one, and achieving common goals

•Economic welfare▫Production-distribution-consumption▫Consumption of goods and services and the

related employment in production and distribution is contained within the community

Maintain sense of community•Socialisation

▫The teaching of morals, values and rules to its members

•Social control▫Ensuring that members adhere to the

groups values and rules•Social participation

▫Meeting the needs for human companionship, often through religion

Maintain sense of community•Rank Warren’s MESSS functions from

most to least important in maintaining or strengthening a sense of community

•Choose one function and describe how its omission would impact on the sense of community

•Explain how a sense of community can be weakened by applying the MESSS theory

Maintaining or Weakening?•Other factors that may maintain or

weaken a sense of community include:▫Political changes

laws or policy, free trade agreement▫Economic changes

loss of funding, global financial crisis▫Environmental changes

drought, rising sea levels ▫Technological changes

use of mobile phones in Cronulla riot, transport▫Social changes

sexism, racism, ageism, etc

Maintaining or Weakening?•The Cranbourne gas leak may have

unintentionally brought the community together through a class action

•The rebuilding of Kinglake after the fires has simultaneously maintained and weakened a sense of community

•Changes to clearway times has brought Stonnington Council traders together as a community to “fight” the State Government

TO DO•Write definitions of the following terms in

your glossary:▫Sense of community▫Sense of community (MESSS)▫Sense of community (SITS)