Primary and Secondary Groups

Primary Group- is a small, intimate and less specialized group whose members engage in face-to- face and
emotion based interactions over extended period of time. ( family, close friends, work-related peers, class mates
and church groups)
Secondary Groups are larger. Less intimate and more specialized groups where members engage in an
impersonal and objective-oriented relationship for a limited time. (example employees treat their colleagues as
secondary group since they know that they need to cooperate with one another to achieve a certain goal.)

In-groups and Out-groups

A self-categorization theory – it proposes that people’s appreciation of their group membership is influenced by
their perception towards people who are not members of their group.
An in-group is a group to which one belongs and with which one feels a sense of identity.
An out-group is a group to which one does not belong and to which he or she may feel a sense of
competitiveness or hostility.
Reference Group
A group to which an individual compares himself or herself. Such group strongly influence an individual’s
behavior and social attitude. It is considered a source of role models since the individual uses it as a standard for
self-assessment.
Network
Refers to the structure of relationships between social actors or groups. These are interconnections, ties ,
linkages between people, their groups, and the larger social institutions to which they all belong to. Modern
societies feature more expansive, diverse and overlapping social networks than primitive ones.

1. Affinal Kinship Relationships based upon marriage or cohabitation between collaterals (people treated as
the same generation) Consanguineous Kinship Connections between people that are traced by blood
Types of Kinship
2. 4. Kinship by Blood
3. 5. Descent Systems Kinship is reckoned in a number of different ways around the world, resulting in a
variety of types of descent patterns and kin groups. Anthropologists frequently use diagrams to illustrate
kinship relationships to make them more understandable.
4. 6. In kinship diagrams, one individual is usually labeled as ego. This is the person to whom all kinship
relationships are referred. In the case below on the right, ego has a brother (Br), sister (Si), father (Fa),
and mother (Mo). Note also that ego is shown as being gender nonspecific--that is, either male or female.
5. 7. Unilineal Descent This traces descent only through a single line of ancestors, male or female. Both
males and females are members of a unilineal family, but descent links are only recognized through
relatives of one gender. The two basic forms of unilineal descent are referred to as patrilineal and
matrilineal.
 6. 8. Patrilineal Descent  Both males and females belong to their father's kin group but not their mother's.
However, only males pass on their family identity to their children. A woman's children are members of
her husband's patrilineal line. The red people in the diagram below are related to each other patrilineally.
7. 9. Matrilineal Descent  The form of unilineal descent that follows a female line. When using this
pattern, individuals are relatives if they can trace descent through females to the same female ancestor.
While both male and female children are members of their mother's matrilineal descent group, only
daughters can pass on the family line to their offspring. The green people below are related to each other
matrilineally.
8. 10. Bilineal Descent  When both patrilineal and matrilineal descent principles are combined
9. 11. Kinship by Marriage
10. 12. Marriage is an institution that admits men and women to family life. Edward Westermarck defined
marriage as the more or less durable connection between male and female lasting beyond the mere act of
propagation till after the birth of offspring. Lowie defined it as a relatively permanent bond between
permissible mates. Malinowski defined marriage as a contract for the production and maintenance of
children. According to Lundberg Marriage consists of the rules and regulations that define the rights,
duties and privileges of husband and wife with respect to each other.
11. 13. MONOGAMY  Monogamy is the practice of having only one spouse at one time. In some cases,
monogamy means having only one spouse for an entire life span. Out of the different types of marriages,
monogamy is the only one that is legal in the United States and in most industrial nations.  Social
monogamy: Two persons/creatures that live together, have sex with one another, and cooperate in
acquiring basic resources such as food, clothes, and money.  Sexual monogamy: Two persons/creatures
that remain sexually exclusive with one another and have no outside sex partners.  Genetic monogamy:
Two partners that only have offspring with one another.  Marital monogamy: Marriages of only two
people.  Serial monogamy: A series of relationships. One person has only one partner at a time, and then
moves on to another partner after severing the relationship with the first.
12. 14. Polygamy  is a Greek word meaning "The practice of multiple Marriage". It is a marriage pattern in
which an individual is married to more than one person at a time. Ex: Tiwi (North Australia) Two
different types of Polygamy:  Polygyny is the practice of one man having more than one wife or sexual
partner at a time. Ex: Mormonism  Polyandry involves one woman having multiple husbands, within
Polyandry there are many variations on the marriage style. fraternal polyandry (Ex: Tibet and Nepal)
secondary marriage (Ex: Northern Nigeria and Northern Cameroon)

 Conformity and deviance are two responses to real or imagined pressures from others. Conformity means going
along one’s peers—individuals of a person’s own status. A recruit entering military service will typically conform
to the habits and language of other recruits.
 Conformity is opposite to social deviance which implies obedience to the norms that make a person acceptable
in a particular society, group, or social setting. The concept of conformity was also used by Robert Merton (1957)
to refer to acceptance of cultural goals and the legitimate or approved means of achieving them. In his scheme
of adaptations to the goals and means, only conformity to both indicates non-deviance.
 Deviance is a behaviour that violates the standards of conduct or expectations or social norms of a group or
society. Alcoholics, gamblers, sex deviants, drug addicts or late comers in the class are all classified as deviants
or deviant acts.
 Deviance involves the violation of group norms. It is a very comprehensive concept that includes not only
criminal behaviour but also many actions not subject to prosecution. Standards of deviance vary from group to
group and also vary over time. Moreover, deviance can be understood within its social context.
 A society must have social order if it is to function smoothly. But no society succeeds in getting all its members
to behave as expected all the time. When a person fails to conform to the social norms of society, social
deviation arises. If societies are to survive, they must have ways of making people conform to social norms.

Types of Political Structures

Bands
Usually being the smallest of the four, bands are where we'll start. A band is usually a very small, oftentimes
nomadic, group that is connected by family ties and is politically independent. With nomadic meaning moving
from place to place, usually in search of food, bands are most often made up of hunter-gatherers.
Tribes
Tribal societies in the sense of political organization are the same as band societies. Their political system is
egalitarian and informal. But the difference is that tribe’s societies are food producers in which agricultural &
husbandry is more important than food collection & hunting
Chiefdom has some formal structure, integrated community and rules populated and the position of the chief is
hereditary & almost permanent. Chiefdom have more economic productivity and the chief have the authority of
redistribution as compare the tribes’ societies
State
State is a self-governing unit surrounded by many communities within a territory, having the power and
authority to collect taxes, use men for work & war and enforce laws

 By far the most important characteristic of the state is its sovereignty.