Chapter 6 Social Collectivities: From Groups to Societies

How was it possible for many thousands of ordinary Germans – products of ‘the most advanced civilization on earth – to systematically murder millions of defenseless and innocent Jews, Romas (Gypsies), homosexuals, and mentally disabled people in the death camps?

Social Groups Shape Our Actions  Norms of Solidarity  Fitting into and being loyal to the group

Social Groups Shape Our Actions  Norms of Solidarity  Nazi soldiers simply developed deep loyalty to each other.  Get their assigned job done or face letting down their comrades

Social Groups Shape Our Actions Obedience to Structures of Authority  People find it difficult to disobey authority (fear of ridicule, ostracism, and punishment)  Stanley Milgram Obedience Study

Obedience and the Holocaust As soon as we are introduced to a structure of authority, we are inclined to obey those in power. Even if the authority structure is new and highly artificial Even if we are free to walk away with no penalty

Obedience and the Holocaust Even if we think that by remaining it its grip we are inflicting terrible pain on another human being. In this context, the actions and inactions of German citizens in World War II become more understandable if no more forgivable

Bureaucratic Organization  Bureacracy - A large, impersonal organization composed of many clearly defined positions arranged in a hierarchy.

Bureaucratic Organization  A bureaucracy has a permanent, salaried staff of qualified experts and written goals, rules, and procedures.  Staff members always try to find ways of running the bureaucracy more efficiently.  Efficiency – achieving the bureaucracy’s goals at the least cost.

Bureaucracy & the Holocaust  The proportion of Jews killed was highest not in the Nazi-controlled countries where the hatred of Jews was most intense, but in countries where the Nazi bureaucracy was best organized.

Networks  Social Network is a bounded set of individuals who are linked by the exchange of material or emotional resources.

Networks  The patterns of exchange determine the boundaries of the network.  Members exchange resources more frequently with each other than with nonmembers.  They also think of themselves as network members.  Social networks may be formal (defined in writing), but they are more often informal (defined only in practice)

Networks  Most lack a name or an office  Can be:  Individuals  Groups  Organizations  Countries

Networks  Things that are a result of networks:  Jobs  Urban Networks  Scientific Innovation  Disease

Networks  Building Blocks  Dyads  Triads

Groups  Social Groups  Composed of one or more networks of people who identify with one another and adhere to defined norms, roles, and statuses  Families and sports teams  Social Categories  Composed of people who share a similar status but do not identify with one another  Coffee drinkers

Networks: Primary and Secondary Groups  Primary Group  Groups whose members agree upon norms, roles, and statuses without putting them in writing.  Social interaction leads to strong emotional ties, extends over a long period, involves a wide range of activities, and results in group members knowing one another

Networks: Primary and Secondary Groups  Secondary Group  Larger and more impersonal than primary groups.  Social interaction creates weaker emotional ties, extends over a shorter period  Involves a narrow range of activities, and results in most group members having at most a passing acquaintance with one another

Group Conformity  Solomon Asch Line Experiment

What Affects Group Conformity?  Group Size  Group Cohesiveness  Social Status  Culture (collectivist v. individualistic)  Appearance of Unanimity

Groupthink  Group pressure to conform despite individual misgivings

Groupthink  Tragic Examples  Bombing of Pearl Harbor  Invasion of Cuba  Watergate  Space Shuttle Columbia

Groupthink  How do we prevent it?  Encourage frank and open discussion  Assess ideas based on their merit  Develop a strategy that incorporates the best ideas voiced (Brainstorming)  Bring in outside voices  Leader withhold his/her opinion and/or presence in meetings  THEN create consensus on how to implement ideas

Groups: In-Groups/Out-Groups  In-Groups  Members are people who belong to a group  Out-Groups  People who are excluded from the in-group

Groups  Group Boundaries: Competition and Self-Esteem  Robber’s Cave Experement  Competition bred antagonism and aggression between groups  Cooperation led the boys to play together and group boundaries disappeared

Dominant Groups  Group boundaries are not natural  Dominant groups often construct group boundaries in particular circumstances to further their goals  Germans and Jews

Groups and Sociological Imagination  Reference Groups  Composed of people against whom an individual evaluates his or her situation or conduct  Your in-group determines which reference groups matter to us  Imagined Communities  Your college, Your company, Your world

Bureacracy  Max Weber  Most efficient in an ideal world  In reality, can be very inefficient  View on a continuum rather than either/or

Bureaucracy  Four Main Criticisms  Dehumanization  Ritualism  Oligarchy  Inertia

Bureaucracy  Four Main Criticisms  Dehumanization  Occurs when bureaucracies treat clients as standard cases and personnel as cogs in a giant machine  Frustrates clients and lowers worker morale

Bureaucracy  Four Main Criticisms  Ritualism  Involves bureaucrats getting so preoccupied with rules and regulations that they make it difficult for the organization to fulfill its goals

Bureaucracy  Four Main Criticisms  Oligarchy  Means “rule of the few”  Tendency for power to become increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few people at the top of the organizational pyramid

Bureaucracy  Four Main Criticisms  Inertia  Refers to the tendency of large, rigid bureaucracies to continue their policies even when their clients’ needs change

Bureaucracy  Other Issues  Size  Increased size can equal increase inefficiency

Bureaucracy  Size AB C B A DC B A E D C B A F

Bureaucracy  Social Structure Head DIV B DIV A Dept C2 Dept C1 Dept B2 Dept B1 Dept A2 Dept A1 DIV C

Bureaucracy  Overcoming Inefficiency  Flattened Network Structure Head D 3D 2 D 1

Bureaucracy  Social Relations  Informal networks often control formal interactions  Women and the “Good Ole Boys” network

Leadership  Three Main Styles  Laissez-faire leadership  Authoritarian leadership  Democratic leadership

Leadership  Three Main Styles  Laissez-faire leadership  Allows subordinates to work things out largely on their own with almost no direction from above  Works best when group members are highly experienced, trained, motivated, and educated and when trust and confidence in group members are high

Leadership  Three Main Styles  Authoritarian leadership  Demands strict compliance from subordinates.  Most effective in a crisis such as a war or the emergency room of a hospital

Leadership  Three Main Styles  Democratic leadership  Offers more guidance than the laissez-faire variety but less control than the authoritarian type  Try to include all group members in decision-making process, taking best ideas from group and molding them into a strategy with which all can  Except for crisis situation, democratic is best style

Societies  Collectivities of interacting people who share a culture and a territory

History of Societies  Foraging societies  Horticultural societies  Agricultural societies  Industrial societies  Postindustrial societies

History of Societies  Foraging societies  People live by searching for wild plants and hunting wild animals.  Such societies predominated until about 10,000 years ago.  Inequality, division of labor, productivity, and settlement size are very low in such societies

History of Societies  Horticultural societies  People domesticate plants ad use simple hand tools to garden  Pastoral societies  People domesticate animals  Emerged 10,000 years ago  Food supply and dependability increased  Settlement size increased, Division of labor, productivity and inequality increased

History of Societies  Agricultural societies  Plows and animal power used to substantially increase food supply and dependability  Emerged about 5,000 years ago  Increase in settlement size and permanence, division of labor, productivity, and inequality higher

History of Societies  Industrial societies  Machines and fuel to greatly increase the supply and dependability of food and finished goods.  Emerged 225 years ago  Inequality substantial in early years, but declined at the system matured

History of Societies  Postindustrial societies  Most workers are employed in the service sector and computers spur substantial increases in division of labor and productivity  US first postindustrial society shorty after WWII.  Gender inequality is reduced  Class inequality increases in some postindustrial societies

Collectivities: Freedom and Constraint  Collectivities can be used to effect constraint through social solidarity, obedience to authority, bureaucratic organizations, networks, groups, conformity, leadership, and societal stages.

Collectivities: Freedom and Constraint  But people can use these same systems to their advantage to produce freedom. People can form social collectivities to counteract other social collectivities. Embedded in social relations, we can use them for good or evil.