Groups vs. individual

Vernis Valentine                                                  November 15th, 2018

                                                                              Sociology

Final Work:

The Freedom of Individuals and Life in Groups

M.I.Ivleva

Summary:

Introduction                                                                        p.3

1. The group                                                                p.4
2. Individualism                                                                p.5
3. Relationship between individuals and groups                        p.7

Conclusion                                                                                p.13

Bibliography                                                                        p.14

Introduction:

Since the first hour a newborn the process of socialization begins. The socialization is the process by which a person (individual) will build his life through/ thanks to the society in which he lives. The individual acquires the individual acquires by internalization and incorporation of ways of doing, of thinking and also the way of being, those different “ways of” are defined in the society. Moreover, the socialization implies three elements that are integrated by each individual: values, norms and also roles. Those elements are very important to socialize and be integrated to the society.

A brief examination of the terms of the subject is necessary. The freedom of individuals and life in groups; individuals and group terms seem to be opposite such as that individual refers to “alone”, “independence”, “self-reliance”, and group could refer to “several individuals together”. Also, the concept of freedom is wide but can be understood such as “the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action”^[1]. The articulation of those concepts is important, and groups cannot exist without individuals and individuals need to be part of at a least a group to identify himself/herself. But groups are also subjects to rules, norms and roles defined, and this can be an obstacle to the freedom of individuals.

Then, to what extend the life in groups affect the freedom of individuals? To understand it, we will study the characteristics of the group and the relationships between individuals and groups.

1. The Group:

The simplest definition is that a group consists of two or more people interacting interdependently to achieve a common goal or objective. Social groups are everywhere. An individual can belong to different groups but the groups differ from each other by the different norms, values and roles that are expected from the group members.

There are different types of groups which are:

• Primary groups: small scale, group which gathers intimate and long-lasting relationships.
• Secondary groups: large groups, gather also institutional and formal relationships (classmates, teachers…
• Reference groups: group which the individual takes such as model and will adopt the norms, the values and the behaviors of the groups.
• Informal groups: one group member may perform several roles or several members may alternate performing the same role.
• Formal groups: roles are clearly defined and each group members should stick and fulfil her/his roles

Because the group allows the individual to socialize. And for numerous socialist it has been the subject of their studies. Max Weber thought that socialization is a complex and results from several interactions. They are not unilateral; not only from the society toward the individual but also from the individual toward the society. The role given by the group to an individual is very important, non only for the group but also for the individual. Because his/ her role helps him/her to understand who the person is. The roles given within a group is very important and also essential for the well-being of the group. Without a hierarchy and a role for each group member, the group can fail because of an instability. The society can be considered as all the groups together, therefore, groups help the individuals to socialize and be part of the society.

Individuals join groups because of the positive reinforcements that come from group membership such as friendly interaction but also the group members can achieve sometimes tasks that they would not be able to achieve by themselves. But the affiliation to a group and the sense of membership and belongingness are also two important factors that make individuals want to join groups.

To conclude, groups have influence on individuals’ attitudes, values and behaviors, groups have influence on other groups also. But to what extend a group impact the freedom of individual.

1. Individuals:

Individual is a human being regarded as distinctive or unique personality. Most of the time, the individual is also generally defined by the groups in which he or she belongs to.

For centuries, sociologists have been thinking and have analyzed the society in a way that the social structures have a huge impact on each of individuals. The influence is such that the individuals are powerless and cannot escape to it. And therefore a big part of the human beings’ history is already established and cannot be changed. One of the most important representative of this ideology is Pierre Bourdieu.

Since 1980 in France, a new way of thinking has been developed and spread with Raymond Boudon. Raymond Boudon has reinterpreted the studies of Durkheim, Max Weber, Georg Simmel and, has led studies which allowed to set methodological individualism in sociology.

He makes the assumption that it is impossible to understand the collective phenomenon if the study of individual actions is not done. Is it to say that there is not determinism, or structure in the societies lives: the collective phenomenon are effects that result from the collective conducts aggregated and individuals do not expect and think about the outcome of those conducts. In his book, L’inégalité des chances, Boudon says; “then, we can consider that they (collective conducts) are released from purely structural constraints”. For instance, for each holidays, people want to avoid traffic jams of the Saturday morning but this will has as result of creating traffic jams on Friday night. Another, example is the democratization of the education pushes individuals to want more and more degrees, but the aggregate result is that the depreciation of those diplomas, the degree that a lot of persons have, does not worth the same, it is worth less.

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