CH-3 Concepts of Sociology
Comparison between Society and Community
Community
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Society
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Population is one of the most essential
characteristicsof a community irrespective of the consideration whether
people have or do not have conscious relations.
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Population is important but here the
population is conditioned by a feeling of oneness. Thus conscious relations
are more important than the mere population for a society.
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A community by nature is discrete as
compared with society.
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By nature and character society is
abstract.
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For community area or locality is
very essential and that perhaps is the reason that the community had a
definite shape.
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Society is area less and shapeless
and for a society area is no consideration.
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A community has comparatively narrow
scope of community sentiments and as such it cannot have wide heterogeneity.
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A society has heterogeneity and
because of its wide scope and field can embrace people having different
conflicts.
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The scope of community is narrow
than that of society because community came much later than the society.
Though the primitive people might not have understood the importance of
community but they realized that of the society and lived in it.
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The society has much wider scope as
compared with the community.
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In a community every effort is made
to avoid differences or conflicts and to bring likeness as nearly as possible
because cooperation and conflicts cannot exist in a community.
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In a society likeness and conflict
can exist side by side andin fact the scope of society is so vast that there
is every possibility of adjustment.
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Association
Men have diverse needs, desires and
interests which demand satisfaction. There are three ways of fulfilling these
needs. Firstly they may act independently each in his own way without caring
for others. This is unsocial with limitations. Secondly men may seek their ends
through conflicts with one another. Finally men may try to fulfill their ends
through cooperation and mutual assistance. This cooperation has a reference to
association.
When a group or collection of
individuals organize themselves expressly for the purpose of pursuing certain
of its interests together on a cooperative pursuit an association is said to be
born. According to Morris Ginsberg an association is a group of social beings
related to one another by the fact that they possess or have instituted in
common an organization with a view to securing a specific end or specific ends.
The associations may be found in different fields. No single association can
satisfy all the interests of the individual or individuals. Since Man has many
interests, he organizes various associations for the purpose of fulfilling
varied interests. He may belong to more than one organization.
Social
Institutions
A social institution is a complex,
integrated set of social norms organized around the preservation of a basic
societal value. Obviously, the sociologist does not define institutions in the
same way as does the person on the street. Lay persons are likely to use the
term "institution" very loosely, for churches, hospitals, jails, and
many other things as institutions.
Social Systems
A social system basically consists of
two or more individuals interacting directly or indirectly in a bounded
situation. There may be physical or territorial boundaries, but the fundamental
sociological point of reference is that the individuals are oriented, in a
whole sense, to a common focus or inter-related foci. Thus it is appropriate to
regard such diverse sets of relationships as small groups, political parties
and whole societies as social systems. Social systems are open systems,
exchanging information with, frequently acting with reference to other systems.
Modern conceptions of the term can be traced to the leading social analysts of
the nineteenth century, notably Auguste Comte, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer and
Emile Durkheim; each of whom elaborated in some form or other conceptions of
the major units of social systems (mainly societies) and the relationships
between such units- even though the expression social system was not a key one.
Thus, in Marx's theory, the major units or components of the capitalist
societies with which he was principally concerned were socio-economic classes,
and the major relationships between classes involved economic and political
power
Culture
The concept of culture was rigorously
defined by E.B. Taylor in 1860s. According to him culture is the sum total of
ideas, beliefs, values, material cultural equipments and non-material aspects
which man makes as a member of society. Taylor's theme that culture is a result
of human collectivity has been accepted by most anthropologists. Tylarian idea
can be discerned in a modern definition of culture - culture is the man-made
part of environment (M.J. Herskovits).
From this, it follows that culture and
society are separable only at the analytical level: at the actual existential
level, they can be understood as the two sides of the same coin. Culture, on
one hand, is an outcome of society and, on the other hand, society is able to
survive and perpetuate itself because of the existence of culture. Culture is
an ally of man in the sense that it enhances man's adaptability to nature. It
is because of the adaptive value of culture that Herskovits states that culture
is a screen between man and nature. Culture is an instrument by which man
exploits the environment and shapes it accordingly.
In showing affection, the Maori rub
noses; the Australians rub faces; the Chinese place nose to cheeks; the
Westerners kiss; some groups practice spitting on the beloved. Or, consider
this; American men are permitted to laugh in public but not to cry; Iroquois
men are permitted to do neither in public; Italian men are permitted to do
both. Since this is true, physiological factors have little to do with when men
laugh and cry and when they do not do either. The variability of the human
experience simply cannot be explained by making reference to human biology, or
to the climate and geography. Instead, we must consider culture as the fabric
of human society.
Culture can be conceived as a
continuous, cumulative reservoir containing both material and non-material
elements that are socially transmitted from generation to generation. Culture
is continuous because cultural patterns transcend years, reappearing in
successive generations. Culture is cumulative because each generation
contributes to the reservoir.