Associations and its charecteristics

A group of people organised for a particular purpose or a limited number of purpose. Sometimes it is a group of social beings attached to an organisation with a view to secure a specific end or specific ends.

Definition of Association

Mac Iver defines an association as "an organisation deliberately formed for the collective pursuit of some interest or set of interests, which its members share".

According to Ginsberg an association is "a group of social beings related to one another or have instituted in a common organisation with a view to secure a specific end or specific ends".

Elements of Association

i) There must be group of people.

ii) It must be an organised one based upon rules and regulations.

iii) They must have a common purpose.

Thus family, church, trade union, music or any such clubs are associations. Associations may be formed on several basis.

Vocational (trade unions, teachers association) recreational (Tennis clubs) or philanthropic (Charitable societies). They may be formed on the basis of duration (ie) temporary or permanent like flood relief association or trade unions.

Difference between society and association

1. Society is older than association: Society exists since man appeared on the earth, while association arose when man learnt to organise himself.

2. Aim of society is general: Society is for the well being of the individuals, whereas association is formed for the particular purpose or purposes.

3. Society may be organised or unorganised but association must be organised.

4. Membership of society is compulsory as no man can live without it. But man can live without being member of any association at all. Society will exist as long as man exists but association may be only transitory.

5. Society is marked by both cooperation and conflict whereas association is based on co-operation alone.

6. Society is a system of social relationship, whereas association is a group of people.

7. Society is natural, whereas association is artificial.

Difference between Association and Community

1. An association is partial, whereas community is a whole. Association is to achieve some specific purpose, which does not include the whole purpose of life. Whereas community includes whole circle of common life. It is not for specific purpose.

2. Community is not deliberately created. It has no beginning, no hour of birth. It is simply whole life, more comprehensive and more spontaneous than any association.

3. Associations exist within community. Human beings belong to association by virtue of some specific interests that they possess (music club etc.). Though they born into communities they choose their associations.

It should be remembered that associations may become communities by serving plurality of ends, though that may never be reached. 

Community and its elements

Person rarely exists alone. It is inevitable that people who over a long period reside in a particular locality should develop social likeness, have common social ideas, belonging etc.

Definition of Community

Community is a human population living within a limited geographic area and carrying on a common inter-dependent life. - Lund berg 

Community is a social group with some degree of "we-feeling" and living in a given area.  - Begardus

Elements of community

Following are the elements on the basis of which it can be decided whether a particular group is a community or not.

i)                   Group of people: Community is a group of people.

ii)                Locality: That group as people reside in a definite locality, a territorial area.

iii)              Community sentiment: It means a feeling of belonging together. It is a "we feeling" among the members, in modern societies it lacks. Even the neighbours are not known. Mere neighbourhood does not create a community, if community sentiment is lacking.

iv)              Permanency: Community is not transitory like a crowd. It refers permanent life in a definite place.

v) Naturality: Communities are not created by an act but are natural.

There can be larger communities like nations and smaller communities like neighbours. Here the large community provides peace and protection and the smaller community provides friends and friendship. 

Society and its elements

Important aspects of society is not the structure, it is the system of relationship. The relations which do not have definite associations have been excluded from the definitions of society. Society exists only when the members know each other and possess common interest on subjects. The travel in train does not form the society. But when they came to know each other the element of society is created. Thus, the society is a number of like-minded individuals, who know and enjoy their like mindedness and are therefore able to work together for common ends.

DEFINITION

A society is a collection of individuals united by certain relations and modes of behaviour which mark them off others who do not enter into these relations or who differ from them in behaviour.  - Ginsberg

A society may be defined as a group of people who have lived together long enough to become organised and to consider themselves and be considered as a unit more or less distinct from other human units.  - John F.Cuber

Society is a group of people who have lived together long enough, sharing common values and general interests, to be considered as a social unit. Rural societies are found in the rural areas like villages and urban societies in the urban areas like towns, cities, industrial and commercial centres.

Elements of Society

i)     Society means likeness: Likeness is an essential pre-requisite and therefore society means likeness.

ii)           Society also implies difference: If people are all very much like or exactly alike the social relationship becomes very much limited. Family rests upon the biological difference of sex. There are differences in aptitude, interest and capacity. Difference is also necessary for society.

iii)           Inter-dependence: In addition to likeness, inter-dependence is another essential element.

iv)    Cooperation: Without cooperation no society can exist. They cannot have a happy life (e.g.) Family rests of cooperation.

Thus likeness, inter-dependence and cooperation are the essential elements to constitute society. Society is no more an agency for comfort but it is the whole system of society relationship. 

Social Regions and its charecteristics

The term region refers to an area of sufficiently homogenous physical features to distinguish it from another region. It has also been defined as an area with in which the combination of environmental and demographic factors have created a homogeneity of economic and social structure.

Regions have been classified on the basis of three distinguishing criteria.

A. Number of indices used in delineation.

B. Subordinate or super-ordinate relationship.

C. Political boundaries between regions.

A. Number of indices used in delineation

Four types of single factors regions have been identified.

1.     Natural regions: differentiated from one another on the basis of a single geographic characteristic such as soil, rainfall, topography, forest irrigation.

2.     Cultural regions: A cultural region is an area in which society is characterized by a sufficient homogeneity in pattern of behaviour, including ways of living, values, beliefs and social organizations, to differentiate it from other areas.

3.     Agricultural regions: based on the type of farming practiced in various areas, climate, soil and other factors influencing a central crop and/or livestock production.

4. Service regions: man-made regions formulated for administrative purposes by government and non-government agencies.

B. Subordinate or super-ordinate relationship

Smaller units, with in larger homogeneous units or major regions, often display sub-regional heterogeneity and must be recognised and identified, usually as a sub-region. By a major region is meant a societal division of the nation delineated and characterized by the greatest possible area homogeneity. A sub-region or minor region is a sub division of a major region representing some variation within the large frame work of the homogeneity of the major region.

C. Political boundaries between regions

While political boundaries often do not consider economic and cultural factors the advantage in using political boundaries accrues from the availability of analytical data periodically collected and analysed by the political bodies concerned and the ease of establishing administrative functions. 

Organisations and its charecteristics

Anderson defined organizations as those classes of human relationship structures wherein people purposefully associate in systematically arranged units to promote and achieve some common purposes or interests that are not specifically expressed in the institution.

Each member has a formal status and role. An organization differs from an institution by its focus on a narrowly limited purpose; it is a group of people organized to pursue a specific objective. An institution on the other hand pursues broader and more general purposes and is basically a set of socially sanctioned procedures involving patterned behavior, norms and roles. Organizations may operate within institutions, though supporting it and helping to achieve its objective.

The form and structure of an organization develops as specialised activity, rules and regulations for operating, time and place of meetings, are formulated and the organisation operates as a clearly defined entity having a specific objective with officers and membership.

Essential Characteristics of Organisations

1.     Clearly defined Limits: in keeping with a specific purpose and interest, the limits with in which an organisation operates are clearly defined goals, and activity is polarised around these goals. Organisations may seek new goals to justify their existence and continuation over a long period of time, however. For instance, the Red Cross society, born during World War I modified its function and objectives to meet peace time needs. Organizations may vary widely in purpose, being created to serve very different interests, such as welfare, music, poetry, religion etc. The purpose is normally specified in the organization’s constitutions and by laws, which are often legally registered in accordance with prevailing laws and practices.

2.   Formal membership, status and Role: There are several aspects of membership in an organisation membership is voluntary and motivated by specialised individual interest. Organisations are almost completely government sponsored or sanctioned. Direction of these organisations is usually by government officials and membership is frequently compulsory organisations that are not under 'government control' are tolerated only if the government feels that their operation is in keeping with government interests, under such circumstances organisations can rarely be formed as spontaneous expressions of the interests of people in society. Membership may involve restrictive qualifications and certain minimum requirements. These restrictions may be on the basis of sex, talents, interest occupation etc.

3. Self contained Administrative structure: Each organisation has its own administrative structure with roles and functions clearly defined and prescribed.

4.     Operative principles, procedures and goals: All organisations have a carefully stated and constitution and by-laws, some times required by law, embodying objectives, rules, regulations and operational procedures.

5. Provision for control, authority and decision making: The rules and regulations of an organisation define authority, procedure for decision making and measures for maintaining conduct and behaviour of members.

6.     An outlet for individual interest: An organisation enables a group of persons sharing a common interest in society to associate with one another, working together toward realisation of their interest.

7.  A Channel for purposeful action: In fulfilling its goal, an organisation may influence social decisions and effect or stimulate social change.

Classifications of organisation

1. On the basis of political structure with in which they are created.

2. On the basis of motives of participation.

3. On the basis of organisational operation.

4. On the basis of admission to membership.

Social institutions and its charecteristics

Social institutions have been created by man from social relationships in society to meet such basis needs as stability, law and order and clearly defined roles of authority and decision making.

Every organization is dependent upon certain recognized and established set of rules, traditions and usages. These usages and rules may be given the name of institutions. These are the forms of procedure which are recognized and accepted by society and govern the relations between individuals and groups.

Definition

An institution is a set of folkways and mores into a unit which serves a number of social functions. - Wood ward and Maxwell

An institution is an organized system of social relationships which embodies certain common values and procedures and meets certain basic needs of society. - Horton.

Social institutions are formal cultural structures devised to meet basic social needs. - Landis.

Characteristics

i) Institutions are the means of controlling individuals.

ii) Institutions depend upon the collective activities of men.

iii) The institution has some definite procedures which are formed on the basis of customs and dogmas.

iv) Institution is more stable than other means of social control.

v) Every institution has some rules which must be compulsorily obeyed by the individual.

Five major institutions in rural sociology are political, educational, economic, family and religion.

1. Political: Government as political institution, administers the regulatory functions of law and order, and maintains security in society. Form of government and its method of working depends on the accepted patterns of behaviour in a society. Development work is now-a-days a major responsibility of the government. For effective implementation of programmes, government may decentralise its functioning by creating local self-government like panchayats at different level.

2. Education is the process of socialisation, which begins informally at home and then formally in educational institutions. Education as an institution helps develop knowledge, skill attitude and understanding of the people and strive to make them competent members of the society. Education widens the mental horizon of the people and make them receptive to new ideas.

3. Economic: Economy provides basic physical sustenance of the society by meeting the needs for food, shelter, clothing and other necessary supply and services. Economic institutions include agriculture, industry, marketing, credit and banking system, co-operatives etc.

4. Family is the most basic social institution in a society, and is a system of organised relationship involving workable and dependable ways of meeting basic social needs.

Function

1. Sex regulation.

2. Reproduction and perpetuation of the family and human race.

3. Socialisation.

4. Provision of economic maintenance and livelihood in many cultures.

5. Provision of love, affection and security to the individual.

6. Provision of class status to the individual of the family into which he has been born.

Definition of Family

Family is defined by Burgress and Locke as a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood or adoption; constituting a single household, interacting and inter communicating with each other in their respective social roles of husband and wife, mother and father, son and daughter, brother and sister, creating a common culture.

Eliott and Merrill defined the family as "the biological social unit composed of husband, wife and children".

Characteristics of family

Family is the most universal group. Family is classified based on structure (patriarchal or matriarchal) and residence.

1. Patriarchal family

It is the family where male being the head of family possessed inclusive powers. He is the owner and administrator of the family property and right. To him all persons living in the family are subordinated.

2. Matriarchal family

The authority vests in the woman head of the family. The male is subordinated to her. She is the owner of property and rules over family. This type of family is said to prevail among the primitive people, who led a wandering or hunting life.

3. Based on residence of the family is classified as

a) Matrilocal family: In this type of family husband goes to live in the hose of his wife.

b) Patrilocal family: Wife goes and lives in the house of her husband.

4. Based on the marriage the family is classified as:

i) Monogamous family: In which man marries one woman only at one time.

ii) Polygamous family: In this kind of family one man marries many women at one time.

iii) Polyandrous family: In this kind of family one man marries many women and lives with all of them or each of them alternatively.

5. The family is also classified based on ancestry as follows:

i) Matrilineal family: Here woman is believed to be the ancestor of the family.

ii) Patrilineal family: Here the ancestry continues through the father.

6. Religion is belief in super natural. Religion constitutes a set of beliefs regarding the ultimate power in the universe, the ideal and proper pattern of behaviour and ceremonial ways of expressing these beliefs. Religion also provides a foundation for the mores of the society. Taboos in various cultures have religious sanction. Religion provides a means by which individuals can face crises and ups and downs in life with strength and fortitude.