social cohesion

Examples of social cohesion in the following topics:

• The Nature of Groups

  • A social group exhibits some degree of social cohesion and is more than a simple collection or aggregate of individuals, such as people waiting at a bus stop or people waiting in a line.
  • Renowned social psychologist Muzafer Sherif formulated a technical definition of a social group.
  • Explicitly contrasted with a social cohesion-based definition for social groups is the social identity perspective, which draws on insights made in social identity theory.
  • The social identity approach posits that the necessary and sufficient conditions for the formation of social groups is "awareness of a common category membership" and that a social group can be "usefully conceptualized as a number of individuals who have internalized the same social category membership as a component of their self concept. " Stated otherwise, while the social cohesion approach expects group members to ask "who am I attracted to?
  • Contrast the social cohesion-based concept of a social group with the social identity concept

• Functions of Religion

  • The functionalist perspective, which originates from Emile Durkheim's work on religion, highlights the social role of religion.
  • Given this approach, Durkheim proposed that religion has three major functions in society: it provides social cohesion to help maintain social solidarity through shared rituals and beliefs, social control to enforce religious-based morals and norms to help maintain conformity and control in society, and it offers meaning and purpose to answer any existential questions.
  • Religion, he argued, was an expression of social cohesion.
  • In one sense, this still fits the structural-functional approach as it provides social cohesion among the members of one party in a conflict.
  • For instance, the social cohesion among the members of a terrorist group is high, but in a broader sense, religion is obviously resulting in conflict without questioning its actions against other members of society.

• Neighborhood

  • Neighborhoods are typically generated by social interaction among people living near one another.
  • In addition to social neighbourhoods, most ancient and historical cities also had administrative districts used by officials for taxation, record-keeping, and social control.
  • One factor contributing to neighborhood distinctiveness and social cohesion was the role of rural to urban migration.
  • Community usually refers to a social unit—larger than a household—that shares common values and has social cohesion.
  • The sense of community and formation of social networks comprise what has become known as social capital.

• Team Cohesiveness

  • Members of cohesive teams have emotional and social bonds that link them to one another and to the group as a whole.
  • Team cohesion develops over time.
  • Social scientists have explained the phenomenon of group cohesiveness in different ways.
  • Members of more cohesive groups tend to communicate with one another in a more positive fashion than those of less cohesive groups.
  • For example, cohesion can intensify social pressure to conform or limit individual expression.

• Community

  • A community is typically a social unit that is larger than a single household, comprised of individuals that share values and thus create an environment of social cohesion.
  • In his 1887 book, aptly titled Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft, Tönnies argued that gemeinschaft is perceived to be a tighter and more cohesive social entity, due to the presence of a "unity of will."
  • Governance does not need to be strong to enforce social norms due to a collective sense of loyalty that individuals feel for community, and an internal alignment and identification with the social norms.
  • Social cohesion in gesellschaften typically derives more from an elaborate division of labor.
  • Mechanical solidarity is a type of community in which social cohesion comes from the homogeneity of individuals.

• Mechanical and Organic Solidarity

  • Mechanical and organic solidarity are concepts referring to different modes of establishing and maintaining social order and cohesion.
  • Social scientists have long sought to understand how and why individuals live together—especially in dense settings such as those found in urban environments.
  • In The Division of Labor in Society, Emile Durkheim outlined two theories that attempt to explain how social order and solidarity is established and maintained.
  • Solidarity describes connections between individuals that allow them to form a cohesive social network.
  • Mechanical solidarity refers to connection, cohesion, and integration born from homogeneity, or similar work, education, religiosity, and lifestyle.

• Durkheim's Mechanical and Organic Solidarity

  • In a society exhibiting mechanical solidarity, its cohesion and integration comes from the homogeneity of individuals.
  • Organic solidarity is social cohesion based upon the dependence individuals have on each other in more advanced societies.
  • Thus, social solidarity is maintained in more complex societies through the interdependence of its component parts (e.g., farmers produce the food to feed the factory workers who produce the tractors that allow the farmer to produce the food).
  • Durkheim formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.

• Cohesiveness

  • Advocacy groups that form along ideological, ethnic, or foreign policy objectives tend to have higher levels of internal cohesion.
  • In the social sciences a social group has been defined as two or more humans who interact with one another, share similar characteristics, and collectively have a sense of unity.
  • A social group exhibits some degree of social cohesion and is more than a simple collection or aggregate of individuals, such as people waiting at a bus stop or people waiting in a line.
  • Antecedent factors, such as group cohesiveness, structural faults, and situational context, play into the likelihood of whether or not groupthink will impact the decision-making process.
  • For the social psychologist, the level of analysis is the individual in the context of a social situation.

• Effects of Group Size on Stability and Intimacy

  • Since it is easier for fewer people to agree on goals and to coordinate their work, smaller groups are more cohesive than larger groups.
  • According to Festinger, Schachter, and Back (1950), group cohesion develops from a field of binding social forces that act on members to stay in the group.
  • Group cohesiveness may suffer, though, if the group lacks enough members to perform its tasks well.
  • This is the suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships.
  • Individuals in groups are connected to each other by social relationships.

• The Functionalist Perspective

  • According to the functionalist perspective, race and ethnicity are two of the various parts of a cohesive society.
  • In the 1960s, functionalism was criticized for being unable to account for social change, or for structural contradictions and conflict (and thus was often called "consensus theory"), and for ignoring systematic inequalities including race, gender, and class, which cause tension and conflict.
  • From this perspective, societies are seen as coherent, bounded, and fundamentally relational constructs that function like organisms, with their various parts (such as race) working together in an unconscious, quasi-automatic fashion toward achieving an overall social equilibrium.
  • It also allows for the micro-analyses that much of modern sociology is oriented around, such as identity formation and the socially constructed nature of race.
  • During the turbulent 1960s, functionalism was often called "consensus theory," criticized for being unable to account for social change or structural contradictions and conflict, including inequalities related to race, gender, class, and other social factors that are a source of oppression and conflict.