Social Groups Within Societies

Since preindustrial societies such as foraging, horticulture, pastoralism, and agriculture to industrialism/informatics societies groups have been formed, dissolved, enlarged, and changed as a consequence of the development of these societies. The more individuals are present in a given location, the more the need for structure arises, thus creating social groups, with the addition later on of social institutions to create a social structure like the ones we see today.

The most important group humans have gathered into is called primary social group, because it is the most intimate and powerfully influences the identity of the individual. The groups are rather small with face-to-face relationships, which last over time. Families, households and extended families, for example, are primary groups because of the intimacy and informality of their relationships. This is how members’ behaviors and beliefs are shaped.

More than 10,000 years ago and still some today, foraging societies strive for survival. As hunters and gatherers, they cover territory to feed themselves and all rely on each other for different chores. They move in small bands, follow certain norms, and share their knowledge. Women gather and men hunt, which gives each gender a useful occupation. These informal social markers make the “boundaries” of the group. Children are also assigned tasks and are just as important to the group’s function. As families grow, intermarriages take place among the different bands. For practicality they move and “live in a small, personal world defined by the band, which seldom consists of more than 250 people” (Hunting and Gathering). They also blend informally among members of same blood or not. The sense of kinship here is large and...

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...h even more changes as social construction is influenced by technology and instant face-to-face relationships across the world. The whole Facebook community or other similar social networks are defined as a secondary social group within which infinite primary groups form with the help of software such as Skype. These never-ending networks have become quite representative of the fast evolving technological and global world we live today.

Works Cited

Andersen, M. L., Howard T. F. Sociology 101: Pima Community College. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Diamond, Jared M. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York, W.W. Norton: 1999. Print.

“Hunting and Gathering.” Agricultural Revolution. Washington State University (WSU), n.d. Web. 5 April 2011.

Miller, Barbara. Cultural Anthropology. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.