lecturespires.files.wordpress.com · Web viewas two or more people who have a shared interest or as Henslin states: “something in common” (Henslin, 2015, G-3). We also examined

1Lecture Eight: Groups and Organization Read: Chapters 4 and 5 Multimedia in Blackboard: Group Behavior

To study society and people, besides sociological theories, research methods, and culture, sociologists also need to understand groups and group behavior. As we learned from previous lecture handouts, sociologists study social life using macrosociology and microsociology. Sociologists view a society as the largest group possible and define a society as “people who share a culture and a territory” (Henslin, 2015, G-6). On the other hand, small groups or microsociology involves the study of groups that we associate with in our everyday lives. Sociologist define a social group as two or more people who have a shared interest or as Henslin states: “something in common” (Henslin, 2015, G-3).

We also examined how sociology developed as a discipline when early sociologists observed the rapid and immense social changes during the industrial revolution. Ferdinand Tonnies was a German sociologist who studied these changes and referred to preindustrial societies as gemeinschaft and the industrial society as gesellshchaft. By gemeinschaft, he meant the intimate relationships and dependence that people had on each other living in rural villages and gesellschaft as the change in relationships becoming more impersonal as masses of people moved from villages to growing cities.

Prior to the industrialization of society, average people did not travel far from their villages because travel mainly took place on foot. Cars, railroads, and airplanes did not exist and neither did the internet, phones, televisions or radios. Life revolved around village life and stories from afar were brought to villagers by traveling merchants. During the industrialization of society, technology made it possible for people to communicate with each other and travel greater and greater distances. This created one of the major societal shifts in history. People became dependent on strangers for their daily lives than their family and local village community.

Food for Thought: Think about the things you need to survive. How many of these are provided by the people you know versus strangers?

For the first time, the masses left home to work in factories and people spent the majority of their time away from the home with strangers. Family size and relationships changed as couples in Western cultures started to marry for love rather than necessity and children were born for pleasure rather than to help with work needed for survival.

Emile Durkheim a French sociologist was also fascinated by societal changes during the industrial revolution. Rather than focusing on village life versus city life, Durkheim Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations. R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.

2studied social solidarity. Social solidarity is often used interchangeably with social cohesion and social integration and all three of these key terms relate to how people are connected to society through shared values and norms or a shared culture.

Durkheim studied how social solidarity changed with industrialization and referred to these changes as mechanical and organic solidarity. In preindustrial societies, division of labor was simple since people for the most part shared work and therefore this led people to have the same outlook on life and share the same beliefs. These preindustrial societies are also referred to as traditional societies. People made decisions based on custom and mysteries of life were explained through religious beliefs. When a person went against the group, that person was publically and severely punished to set an example to the rest of the group since any deviation from the norm was seen as a threat to the existence of that group. Examples of public punishment included the guillotine, stoning, hanging, etc. Durkheim referred to the strong ties that people had with each other as mechanical solidarity.

As people moved to cities, social solidarity or the ties that people had with each other changed. Division of labor became complex as work evolved due to changes in technology. Now rather than people sharing work there are thousands of occupations that require unique specializations. People became dependent on the labor of strangers rather than their own family. Modern societies are also referred to as rational societies. People today make decisions not so much on custom but logic. What may have worked in the past may not work today and people need to weigh their options. Mysteries of life are now more often explained by science then religion and when people deviate from the norm they are punished privately through prison sentences rather than publically shamed. Durkheim referred to the weaker ties that people now have with each other as organic solidarity. Just as organs in our body all have a unique function, people today have their own individual occupations and we have less in common with our family members and more in common with strangers who share our professions.

Durkheim coined the term anomie to refer to the disconnect people feel from these weak ties in a modern society as people are less socially integrated when compared to traditional societies.

Your Turn: Make a list of the types of behaviors people may engage in when in a state of anomie that comes from people having weak ties to society or social groups.

As we discussed in a previous lecture handout, Karl Marx also studied the changes resulting in the industrialization of society. Karl Marx coined the term alienation to refer to the detachment people feel from the products they manufacture in a capitalist economy Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations. R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.

3that emerged during the industrial revolution. Prior to industrialization, people were craftsman or artisans who practiced a trade that was passed down from generation to generation within the family. They worked with their hands seeing the product from start to finish. People’s identity was tied to their work. Capitalism which has a profit motive took advantage of cost cutting measures such as machinery and the assembly line. People became alienated from the products they manufactured and instead became seen as “cogs in a machine.” From Marx’s perspective, work and the work environment came to be controlled by the bourgeoisie class with the proletariat class having very little power over their own work conditions and consequently their own life since people spent the majority of their life working.

Examples: Rural Life

Traditional Society

Gemeinschaft Society

Mechanical Solidarity

Division of labor is simple. People have a craft or trade which is passed down from generation to generation.

Family members share same skills for clothes, food, and dwelling and depend on each other for what they need. They have similar dress and appearance.

Religion is used to explain the mysteries of life, families are large, and deviance is viewed as a threat to the existence of the group and publically punished.

Common outlook, shared lifestyle is the glue that connects people to each other. Decisions are made based on custom. Relationships are personal and intimate.

City Life Rational Society

Gesellschaft Society

Organic Solidarity

Division of labor is complex. People have unique specialties and occupations. Relationships are impersonal and distant.

Family members do not need each other to survive.They depend on strangers from around the world who make the goods they buy.

Science is used to explain the mysteries of life, families are small, and deviance is no longer a threat to the existence of a group.

The ties that bind people to each other and society are rooted in interdependence with those we do not know, but upon whom we depend. Decisions are made through weighing the pros and cons.

Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations. R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.

4

During the industrialization of society, social institutions and formal organizations emerged as people spent more time outside of the family. Social institutions are parts of a society that have manifest functions to maintain stability in a society.

Your Turn: Look over Figure 4.2 (Chapter 4) to examine the various social institutions that exist in the United States today. Pay attention to the formal organizations that are a part of each social institution along with the statuses that people take on within each social institutions and the cultural values and norms that are taught to us.

Formal organizations are also referred to as bureaucracies and these just as social institutions have a goal or purpose to maintain stability for a certain group of people rather than society as a whole.

Your Turn: Make a list of all the formal organizations you come in contact with on a regular day. What is the purpose of each one? To help you, examine Figure 4.2.

Max Weber a German sociologist (the same one that coined the term verstehen) studied bureaucracies and identified their characteristics or ways that you can identify a bureaucracy or a formal organization. In Chapter 5 on pages 136-138, Henslin (2015) describes each of the five characteristics in detail: hierarchy, division of labor, written rules, written records, and impersonality.

Your Turn: Look over Figure 5.1 to examine the hierarchy of a university. Does it match to SBVC? Now apply the rest of the four characteristics of a bureaucracy to SBVC. Example: Hospital Bureaucracy

Hierarchy Division of Labor

Written Rules Written Records

Impersonality

President Oversees directors

Approves rules/ procedures

Oversees records and communication

Does not communicate directly with all positions

Directors of Departments

Decision makers for departments

Writes handbooks and memos

Maintains files, formally communicates

All positions replaceable

Physicians Delivershealthcare

Follows procedures

Patient records Positions rather than individuals

Support Staff Supports physician and department directors

Follows procedures

Patient and Employee Records, Id numbers

Positions communicate with direct superiors only


5In addition to each formal organization or bureaucracy having characteristics, there are different types of formal organizations including utilitarian, normative, and coercive.

Examples: Utilitarian Normative CoercivePeople join for a purpose People join for a morally

worthwhile causePeople do not join voluntarily

Work, School Church, Volunteer Association Prison, Rehab, Mental Institution, Hospital

While bureaucracies are organized to maintain stability in a society, they are also dysfunctional. Some of these dysfunctions include: red tape, alienation, goal displacement, self-fulfilling stereotypes, hidden corporate cultures, and lack of diversity. Read about these various dysfunctions on pages 141-144 (Henslin, 2015).

Food for Thought: which of these bureaucratic dysfunctions have you experienced?

Now we’re going to examine smaller groups. Throughout your day you move in and out of aggregates. Henslin defines an aggregate as “individuals who temporarily share the same physical space but who do not see themselves as belonging together” (Henslin, 2015, pg. 130). Some examples are waiting in line in a movie theatre, watching the movie in a theatre, or getting stuck in a traffic jam on your way home from the movie theatre.

Food for Thought: Think about all the aggregates that you have contact with in a day.

While aggregates are people with whom we interact with but do not see ourselves connected to, probably the most important group for all of us is our primary group followed by our secondary groups. Each of these groups has three characteristics that tend to oppose each other:

There are other groups that we don’t necessarily physically belong to but we still have emotional ties to. These are called in-groups and out-groups. In-groups are those that Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations. R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.

Primary Group Secondary GroupsIntimate, personal and informal relationships

Impersonal, formal, distant relationships

Long term, sometimes life long

Short term or temporary

We develop our self-identity or who we are

We meet our life long partners through these

Family members, close friends

Work, school, associations, etc.

6we have strong emotional feelings of attachment and devotion while out-groups are the opposite, we have strong feelings of competition and dislike. In-groups and out-groups provide feelings of belonging or social solidarity, social cohesion, or social integration in a rather impersonal or gesellschaft society. While we cheer for our favorite sports team, our loathing for the opposing team brings us closer to other fans. So strong are our emotional ties to our teams that people do all sorts of weird to criminal acts from screaming at their television sets to looting and starting fires! While sports teams are a relatively harmless example of in-groups versus out-groups, Henslin details more perilous consequences of the “we-they” mentality on page 133 (Henslin, 2015).

Examples: In-Group Out-GroupDemocrats RepublicansAngels YankeesMales FemalesChristians MuslimsYour Turn:Your Turn:

Another group that has a tremendous effect on our thinking and behavior are reference groups. A reference group could be made up of people we have personal, impersonal, or no physical connections to but in some way we measure ourselves to. Most of us have individuals in our life that we considered to be our role models. These could be your parents, older sibling, teacher or even a celebrity. Reference groups are our role models. Not only do they exemplify ways of thinking and behaving but we imitate their behaviors and then judge ourselves to them. Sometimes different reference groups contradict each other and send us mixed messages such as athletes using steroids. For many adults professional occupation associations are our reference groups such as the American Sociological Association (ASA) is a reference group for sociologists. The ASA has ethical guidelines or standards of behavior that all sociologists are expected to follow.

Food for Thought: what are your reference groups? Do any of your reference groups have contradicting messages?

By now you probably agree that the groups we belong to personal or impersonal have a huge impact on us. However, it is not just the type of society that we live in; gemeinschaft or gesellschaft, or the groups we belong to; primary or secondary but also the size of the groups that we interact with that matters and it matters a lot! Group dynamics refers to the things that happen between group members in a group and how


7groups members influence each other. What happens in a group between group members is significantly influenced by the group’s size. Size matters.

Sociologist Georg Simmel studied the effects of group size and here are his rules:

Group Size Rules Small Groups Large Groups Rule #1 Relationships between group

members are intimate and personal due to the small size of the group.

Relationships between group members are distant and impersonal due to the large size of the group.

Rule #2 The group is erratic or unstable. If one or several members leave the group, the group falls apart.

The group is steady or stable. If one or several group members leave the group, the group remains.

As you can see, the rules oppose each other for small and large groups. But that’s not all, each time a person joins a group, its group dynamics change. A smallest group possible is a dyad and consists of two people. This is the most unstable of all groups since if one member of the group leaves the group, for whatever reason, the group no longer exists. Now let’s add one person to a dyad and we have a triad. Relationships within a group of three people are possible that in a dyad are impossible.

Martha Lisa

Sarah

Martha is upset with Lisa because she thinks Lisa is talking “smack” behind her back. Lisa asks Sarah to defend her and Martha also expects Sarah to choose a side. As you can see, Sarah is in a tough spot as she is being asked to be the “peacemaker.” She has been assigned a role that is not possible in a dyad. Sarah takes Lisa’s side and tells Martha that there have been times when Martha has talked “smack” about Lisa and therefore she is being hypocritical. Lisa and Sarah have joined a coalition and have made Martha a scapegoat or a victim. A coalition is when two or more group members take a side against other members in a group. This is also not possible in a dyad. Each time a new member joins a group, the group dynamics become more complex. A group of five can be a family with mom and dad a dyad and in a coalition joining forces to make the Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations. R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.

8siblings clean their room. A group of seven can be your colleagues at work for a total of 21 different relationships as illustrated in Figure 5.2 (Chapter 5)!! No wonder our lives are so complicated!!

Your Turn: Think about your group of friends and describe the group dynamics, including coalitions in your group.

As groups grow in size they become formal and leaders emerge. Sociologists identify three types of leadership styles and two types of leaders:

Examples: Instrumental Leader

Leads a groups toward completion of a goal

Professor in class

Coach on a sports team

Your Turn: Your Turn:

Expressive Leader

Leads a group that has tensions or needs to increase its morale

Employee Retreat

Civil unrest protest


Authoritarian Leadership style

Gives orders and assigns tasks

Manager at a busy restaurant

Doctor in an operating room


Democratic Leadership style

Facilitates group decisions to lead to group compromise

Division dean at a faculty meeting

Club Advisor Your Turn: Your Turn:

Laissez-Faire Leadership style

Minimal leadership participation, group makes all decisions

Biking club president

Online discussion forum monitor


Using Simmel’s rules related to large groups, we begin to see a phenomenon sociologists refer to as the diffusion of responsibility and psychologists call the bystander effect. In large groups, since relationships among people are impersonal and distant, it is easy to remain anonymous and consequently easy to deflate responsibility.

Food for Thought: When the professor asks the class a question, how many students usually participate in a class discussion? Why do you think the majority of students


9remain silent? Is easier to remain silent when the class is large as opposed to working in small groups or dyads? Why do you think this is so?

Emergency responders are trained to address bystanders directly to give them instructions rather than yelling into the crowd – someone get a blanket, someone get witness information, someone get water; because if we ask somebody to do something nobody will probably get the job done. Many experiments have shown that in large groups people will ignore assisting people in life and death situations and numerous current events show this phenomenon in real life.

Two classic social psychology experiments by Solomon Asch on peer pressure and conformity and Stanley Milgram on obedience to authority illustrate the power of group dynamics.

Read the sections in Chapter 5 titled: “The Power of Peer Pressure: The Asch Experiment” and “The Power of Authority: The Milgram Experiment.”

The Asch experiment (1952) was so revolutionary that it is still being replicated to this day with consistent results.

Food for Thought: what current societal events remind you of the results of the Asch experiment?

(Source: Henslin, 2015, pg. 151 and 152)

The Milgram experiment (1963) was found to be unethical due to participants being emotionally harmed and subsequently needed psychological support. It has never been replicated until recently when the IRB modified the conditions slightly. The results of the more recent study had consisted findings with the original Milgram experiment. Food for Thought: what current societal

events remind you of the results of the Milgram experiment?


10Another social phenomenon observed in groups that exist over long term is groupthink. Groupthink refers to rigid and unbending ways of thinking that when faced with opposition by a group member is seen as a threat to the stability or existence of a group. Irving Janis identified eight characteristics of groupthink illustrated here.

Food for Thought: What examples of groupthink can you think of?

(Source: Jones and Bartlett Learning, 2014)

The fact that the majority of us are susceptible to peer pressure and authority figures has tremendous effects on our society in all of our social institutions including the government, economy, healthcare, education, science, military, mass media, etc. Every now and then you may hear stories of how innocent people spent decades in prison or how business executives made decisions about the safety of products knowing that people’s lives were at stake. People going along with the group knowing that the group is in the wrong or following authority orders that are unethical and illegal are more common than you think; both Janis, Asch and Milgram show that they may be a normal part of everyday life.

Other than our group membership and group dynamics, our status also effects both our thinking and behavior in a society. Sociologists define status as a position or a rank a person holds in a social group.

Food for Thought: think about the different military ranks of soldiers and how their rank affects their thinking, behaviors, and opportunities within the military.

There are different types of statuses defined in Chapter 4 including status set, status symbol, master status, ascribed status, and achieved status. Read the definitions of these on page 102 (Henslin, 2015).

Your Turn: Give an example from your own life of each of the status related terms. Do not plagiarize or copy from this document without using the appropriate citations. R. Pires, 2014-2015. Material based on Henslin, James. Essentials of Sociology. Pearson, 2015.

11

Examples: Ascribed Status Race Sex Your Turn: Your Turn:Achieved Status Student Mom You Turn: Your Turn:

While status is a position we occupy in society, roles are responsibilities that we fulfill that sometimes are linked to status. Oftentimes the stressors that you have in your life are related to role conflict and/or role strain. Role conflict relates to the stress we have when two or more statuses collide or conflict with each other.

Examples: Role Conflict Status Mary has a meeting at noon. Employee Does Mary fulfill her role as a

worker and go to the meeting? or

The school nurse contacts Mary at 11:45am that her son is running a high fever.

Parent Does Mary fulfill her role as a parent and pick up her son from school?

Role strain refers to the stress that we have in just one status.

Example: Role Strain

Parent Status

Homework Cook Laundry Play Drop off at school

Clean

Food for Thought: Think about the role conflict and role strain you have. Which statuses is your role conflict related to? Which one status is your role strain related to?

Throughout the semester, we will study how our ascribed statuses and our achieved statuses relate to opportunities or life chances in our society. Sociologists study categories of people with similar characteristics to determine patterns related to life chances. Social research shows that social class, race, gender, and sexual orientation are characteristics that have the greatest effect on our life chances or opportunities in the American society today. Most sociologists agree that social class have the greatest impact on our opportunities followed closely by our race. Social class is referred to in sociology as SES or socioeconomic status. SES is defined by OIE or occupation, income, and education.

Examples: Upper Class: similar levels of:

Education – private and elite schools

Similar education from similar schools results

Similar types of occupations result in


12in similar types of occupations and prestige (respect)

similar levels of income and wealth

Middle Class: similar levels of:

Education – publically well-funded schools

Similar education from similar schools results in similar types of occupations and prestige (respect)

Similar types of occupations result in similar levels of income and wealth

Lower Class: similar levels of:

Education – publically low-funded schools

Similar education from similar schools results in similar types of occupations and prestige (respect)

Similar types of occupations result in similar levels of income and wealth

Food for Thought: what do you think it says about our American society when all of the main characteristics related to life chances are ascribed rather than achieved? How does this relate to the American core values you studied in Chapter 2 on culture?

We have now completed studying the main components of the social structure and in part two of the semester will examine social institutions.

Pop QuizReview the main premise of functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interaction theories. What’s the difference between gemeinschaft and gesellschaft societies?What’s the difference between mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity? What’s the difference between ascribed and achieved status, role conflict and role strain?What are the characteristics of primary and secondary groups?What’s the difference between in-groups, out-groups, and reference groups? What are the characteristics and dysfunctions of bureaucracies? What is meant by group dynamics? What are Simmel’s rules for group size? What are the differences between different types of leaders and leadership styles? What were the findings of the Asch and Milgram experiments? What is diffusion of responsibility? What is groupthink?Are you ready for Exam #1?


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lecturespires.files.wordpress.com · Web viewas two or more people who have a shared interest or as Henslin states: “something in common” (Henslin, 2015, G-3). We also examined