Group:

•A number of people or things that are located,

gathered, or classed together.
•A set of elements occupying a column in the
periodic table and having broadly similar properties
arising from their similar electronic structure
Social Groups:
•A social group has been defined as two or more
people who interact with one another, share similar
characteristics, and collectively have a sense of unity.
According to William:
Social group is a given aggregate of people
playing inter-related roles and recognized by
themselves or others as a unit of interactions.
According to Horton and
hunt:
Groups are aggregate or categories of people
who have a consciousness of membership
and of interaction.
Characteristics of Social Groups:
The basis of grouping may be numerous but the division of
population on the basis of age, sex, income, profession and
other gave them various types of social groups. Following are
the
•Given number of Individual two or more
•Reciprocal Relations exists among the its members
•These are formed for Common Goals and Objectives
•Having Sense of unity and solidarity which results loyalty and
sympathy
•A strong sense of awe-feeling which develop cooperation
•Group Norms and regulations (written or unwritten) must be
followed for group control
•Similar Behavior to achieve common goals
•Awareness about its membership to differentiate them from
other groups
•These are dynamic instead static
•Group Control (direct or indirect control) for members
activities
Types of Social Groups:
Social groups have following types:

•On the basis of contact (C.H Cooley)

•Primary Group
•Secondary Group

•On the basis of contact (W.S Sumner)

•In-Group
•Out-Group
•On the basis of rules & regulations
•Formal groups
•In formal groups

•On the basis of structure (Dwight Sanderson)

•Voluntary Groups
•Involuntary Groups
•Delegate group

•On the basis of relation to society (George Hassen)

•Un-social group
•Pseudo-social group
•Anti-social group
•Pro-social group
On the basis of contact:
On the basis of contact among the member, social groups are divided into
2 types: Primary & Secondary Group

Primary Group:
The concept of Primary Group is given by C.H Cooley. Primary groups
have characteristics:
•There is face-to-face interaction among its members.
•There are frequent interactions among its members.
•The relations among the members too personal, intimate and intense.
•There is a sense of ‘we-feeling’ in the members.
•The members possess similar background attributes such as language,
interest, culture, religion etc.
•There is physical proximity among the members.
•There groups are smaller in size.
Example: Family, Neighborhood, local brotherhood, Close friends &
peers.
Secondary Group:

The concept of secondary group is given by Maciver, Secondary

groups have following characteristics:
•The group is formed by relations secondary to the primary group.
•There is comparatively less face-to-face interaction.
•There is comparatively less frequent interaction.
•The relations among the members are impersonal and secondary.
These relations are relatively less personal, less imitate and less
intense.
•The member have specific aims or interest to achieve.
•There is less physical proximity among the members.
•These groups are larger in size.
Example: a shopkeeper-customer relation, A doctor patient relation,
An advocate-client relation, A teacher-student relation, A candidate-
voter relation.
On the basis of Identification:
W.G Sumner has divided social groups into two types: In group
or Out-group
In-group:
A group, to which we directly belong, is called our in-group. It
can be our own family, tribe, sex, occupation, games or interest
group. For example, if I am player of a cricket team, my cricket-
team is in-group for me. A religious group is in-group for its
followers. A geographical community is in-group for its residents.
The terms ‘in-group’ is used when an individual wants to identify
himself with a group or show an association with his groups, such
as by saying; We are Americans. We are English. We are
Muslims. We are students. We are doctors. We are Muslims.
The members of in-group have a sense of ‘we-feelings’ and
belongingness towards their in-group.
Out-groups:
A group, to which we do not belong, is called an out-group. It
can be any group of others (not ours) including a family, tribe,
ethnicity, sex, occupations or interest group. For example, if I am
a student of psychology are in-groups for me, but the students of
any others discipline (other than psychology) are an out-group
for me. The term out-group is used to distinguish one’s identify
from that of others or to compare one’s identify to that of other,
such as by saying; we are Americans (in-group) and they are
Indians (out-group). We are Muslims (in-group) and they are
Christians (out-group). We are doctors (in-group) and they are
engineers (out-group).
There is a sense of ‘they-feeling’ while referring to an out-group.
On the basis of rules & regulations

There are two social groups on the basis of rules &

regulations: Formal and informal groups.

Formal groups:
They were introduced by S. Bochner (1946). The
term formal group sometimes means the same
as formal group law, and sometimes means one of
several generalizations. Formal groups are
intermediate between Lie groups (or
algebraic groups) and Lie algebras. They are used in
algebraic number theory and algebraic topology.
In formal groups:

Whereas formal groups are established by

organizations to achieve some specific objectives,
informal groups are formed by the members of such
groups by themselves. They emerge naturally, in
response to the common interests of organizational
members. They are formed spontaneously, without
any formal designation, and with common interests
such as self-defense, work assistance and social
interaction.
On the basis of structure
Sanderson has divided social groups on the basis of structure into
three types: voluntary, in voluntary and delegate group.

Voluntary and involuntary group:

Groups may be classified according to how members become
members. If an individual select to become a member of a group
then that group can be referred to as a voluntary group. On the
other hand, if an individual becomes a member of a group, as a
result of factors over which he/she has no control, then the
group may be referred to as an involuntary group.

Delegate group:
It is a group that serves as a representative of the large number of
people. The members are either elected by the people or
nominated on the basis of certain criteria
On the basis of relation to society
George hassen has divided social groups on the
basis of its relation to society in into following
types:

Un-social group:
It is a group that remains detached within a
society. They do not participate in the society and
remain alone. The examples are introverts, people
with adjustments problems or psychological
anomalies, drugs addicts, criminals, thieves and
murders.
Pseudo-social group:
It is a group that participate in the society only for their own
interest and gain. They do not care about the interest of
others or betterment of society. They behave in predatory or
parasitic way in the society.

Pro-social group:
It is the group that works for the betterment of society. They
engaged in all activities for the development, prosperity,
welfare and peace in society.

Anti social:
Anti-social behaviours are actions that harm or lack
consideration for the well-being of others. ... Many
people also label behaviour which is deemed contrary
to prevailing norms for social conduct as anti-
social behaviour.