What is Sociology?

Sociology is the scientific study of

human society & social behavior.
 Communities – Rural and Urban

INTRODUCTION

• The word ‘community’ has been derived from two Latin words; namely, ‘com’ and
‘munis’. In English, ‘com’ means together and ‘munis’ means to serve. Thus,
community means to serve together.

• It means, the ‘community’ is an organization of human beings which has been

framed for the purposes of serving together.

• They are unlike groups and organizations that have special interests and touch
only a narrow part of their participants’ levels.

• The territorial boundaries differentiate it from other groups, because most of

other groups are not tied to specific localities
 Rural Community

1. It includes Villages & Hamlets.

2. In the primitive societies, people were nomadic and moved from place
to place. Next step came when people began to lead a settled family
life. It was here that the habitation in the villages started.

3. People in living in this community having belongingness, sharing their

emotions living in a specific locality within a village.

4. Character of village started changing when people started considering

village land as the property of the village as a whole but it belonged to
only one lord who exploited all those who tilled the land.
 FACTORS RESPOSIBLE FOR THE
GROWTH OF VILLAGE COMMUNITY:

•Topographical Factors – It includes land, water and climate. Villages with

fertile land, good climate and water in abundance attracted more people.

•Economic Factors – Favorable agricultural conditions led to advance stage

of living.

•Social Factors – In villages where there is not internal and external peace,
village community become more prosperous.

•Ecological Factors – It includes factors such as population, occupation,

distance from the town, and social as well as geographical organization.
 Urban Community

1. Urban areas include town & cities.

2. Urban areas are proper, planned settlements built up

according to a process of urbanization.

3. Urban areas are defined by their advanced amenities,

opportunities for education, facilities for transport, business
and social interaction and overall better standard for living.
Difference of rural and urban
communities
 Society

•Society is group of people who share a common culture, occupy a

particular territorial area and feel themselves to constitute a unified and
distinct entity.

• It is the mutual interactions and interrelations of individuals and groups.

• Man is social animal’, said Aristotle centuries ago. Man needs society for
the attainment of his optimum happiness and where he can work and enjoy
his life.
 Some definitions of the term
“society” are given below:

Horton and Hunt, “A Society is a relatively independent, self

perpetuating human group which occupies a territory, shares a culture and
has most of its associations within group”.
Maclver and page, “society is a system of usages and procedures,
authority and mutual aid, of many groupings and divisions, of human
behavior and of liberties”
Prof. Giddings, “society is the union itself, the organization, the sum of
formal relations in which associating individuals are bound together.”
 Nature of Society

• Society consists of people.

Society is composed of people. Without people there can be no society, no social
relationship and no social life at all.
• Mutual awareness and mutual interaction.
Society is a group of people in continuous interactions with each other. A social
interaction is made possible because of mutual awareness. Society is understood as
a network of social relations. Thus, social relationship implies mutual awareness.
•Society depends on likeness.
The principle of likeness is essential for society. It exists among those who resemble
one another in body and mind to some extent. Just as the birds of
same feather flock together, men have many things in common. It implies
consciousness of kind.
•Society rests on differences too.
If men are exactly alike, their social relationships would be very limited people differ
from one another in their looks, personality, ability, talent, attitude, aptitude,
interest, taste, faith and so on. People pursue different activities because of these
 Types of Society

Pre- Industrial Society.

It refers to specific social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization that
were prevalent before the advent of the Industrial
Revolution. Which occurred from 1750 to 1850. It is followed by the industrial society.

Some of the features are:

•Use of simplest technology developed locally with the help of indigenous
knowledge.
They are pro-literate knowledge.
Low division of labor. In pre-industrial societies production
was relatively simply and the number of specialized crafts
was limited.
Joint family structure is prevalent.
Dominance of religious and superstitions beliefs over peoples day to day life
activities
Industrial Society.
The industrial mode of prediction began some 250 years ago in Britain and
from there it spread to the entire world. In the simplest sense an industrial
society is a social system whose mode of production focuses primarily on
finished goods manufactured with the aid of machinery.

In society, industrial society refers to a society driven by the use of

technology to enable mass production, supporting a large population with a
high capacity for division of labor.
Features of industrial societies.
•With the industrial technology, societies began to change faster and
industrial societies transformed themselves more in one century than they
had during the past thousand years.

Industrialization draws people away from home to factories situated near

energy sources.

Leads to the rise of very large cities and surrounding suburban areas with a
high rate of economic activity.

Rapid change and movement from place to place also generate anonymity,
cultural diversity and numerous subculture and counter cultures.
 Groups

•A social group consists of two or more people who interact with one
another and who recognize themselves as a distinct social unit.
•The term refers to any collection of at least two people who interact with
some frequency and who share a sense that their identity is somehow
aligned with the group.

•People who exist in the same place at the same time but who do not
interact or share a sense of identity—such as a bunch of people standing in
line at Starbucks—are considered an aggregate, or a crowd. Another
example of a nongroup is people who share similar characteristics but are
not tied to one another in any way. These people are considered
a category.
Example all children born from approximately 1980–2000 are
referred to as “Millennials.” Why are Millennials a category and
not a group? Because while some of them may share a sense
of identity, they do not, as a whole, interact frequently with
each other.
 Types of Groups

Primary groups :
The primary group is usually fairly small and is made up of individuals who
generally engage face-to-face in long-term emotional ways. This group
serves emotional needs: expressive functions rather than pragmatic
ones.
The best example of a primary group is the family.

Secondary groups :
Secondary groups are often larger and impersonal. They may also be task-
focused and time-limited. It means that their role is more goal- or task-
oriented than emotional.
A classroom or office can be an example of a secondary group
 Association

An organization deliberately formed for the collective pursuit of

some interest which the members of it share is termed as an
association”. It is an organized group of persons pursuing a
common purpose through some cooperative action.

Associations are groups in which membership is in no sense

obligatory, generally it is voluntary. So these units are often
called Voluntary associations’. They may be closely or loosely
structured with formal role systems, offices, operating rules,
procedures and goals
 Some of the important characteristics
of association are as follows:

(1) A group of People: An association is basically a group of people who

have some common objectives. Without a group of people no association can be
formed. Hence a group of people is important.
(2) Organization: Association does not refer to any ordinary group of people
rather it refers to an organized group of people. In other words when a group of
people organize themselves for the pursuit of some common interest an association
is formed. Hence association is called as an organized group. There is certain rules
which guide the people.
(3) Common Aims and Objectives: It is the most important
characteristic of association. Because association does not refers to a mere collection
of human beings rather it refers to those group of individuals who have some
common aims and objectives.
(4) Some rules and regulations: These rules and regulations are
either written or unwritten. Members or officials of an association obey these rules
and works according to these rules and regulation.
(5) Co-operative Spirit : Here people work together with a cooperative
spirit to fulfill some common purposes. This co-operative spirit helps them to realize
their objectives. When this spirit is lacking there is no co-operation and no
association.
(6) Voluntary Membership : The membership of an association is
voluntary in nature. People voluntarily join in an association to fulfill their desired
aims and objectives. They can also withdraw their membership when they feel so.
(7) Degree of Permanency : The degree of permanency varies from
association to association. Some association may be temporary where as some are
permanent. There exists some long lived association like family or state. Similarly
there exists some temporary associations like flood relief association.
(8) Legal Status : Association is an organised social group which has
responsible members. This shows that association has legal status. It can sue and be
sued. Legal action can also be taken against the members as well as officials if
disobey it’s rules and regulations.
(9) Office Bearers : An association have office bearers who manage it’s
affairs and guides it’s functioning. These office bearers are elected for a definite
period of time by it’s members.

(10) Artificial Nature: Association is an artificial creation. It is man made

in nature. Some individuals deliberately form association to fulfill their common
objectives.

(11) Limited Significance: Membership of an association has limited

significance. Because association is a temporary group organised for the fulfillment
of specific interests of its members. It has significance for its members so far it
serves their purpose. When it fail to serves the purpose it lose it’s significance.

(12) Association performs a variety of functions for its members as well as for
society.
 Institution

In simple words, institution is another word for procedure,

convention and arrangements.

A social institution is a structure of society that is organized to

meet the needs of people mainly, through well established
procedures.

An institution is a complex integrated organization of collective

behavior established in the social heritage and meeting some
persistent need or want.
 Characteristics of Institution:

(1) Satisfaction of specific needs: Each institution satisfies some

specific needs. The family meets the need for controlling the reproductive function,
socializing children and providing economic security to its members, while the
government meets the need for maintaining order within a society, defending the
society against outside attacks and establishing laws.
(2) Prescription of rules : Institutions prescribe rules and regulations
that are to be followed. Marriage as an institution, for example, governs the relations
between the husband and the wife. Similarly the school or college has its own rules
and procedures.
(3) Cultural symbols: Institutions have cultural symbols. The symbols may
be either material or non-material. A country has a flag, an emblem, a national
anthem as its symbol. A school may have its own flag, uniform dress etc.
(4) Universality : Social institutions are universal. They exist in all the
societies and have been found at all the stages of social development.
(5) Social in nature: Institutions come into being due to the collective
activities of the people. They are essentially social in nature. After all, institutions are
the products of the secular and repetitive forms of social relationships of individuals.