Group in Society, and How

¶ … group in society, and how it functions. Specifically it will discuss why groups are so influential in our lives, and how they can alter society and individuals by social pressure.

Chapter 5 in the text discusses the importance of groups in society. In fact, groups are so influential in our lives that the text notes, "We become who we are because of our membership in human groups" (Henslin, 2005, p 114). Thus, groups have more influence over our lives than just about any other societal element. Primary groups include family and close friends, even gangs, anyone that is in our closest circle of friends and relations, and they have the most influence over our lives. Groups are important because we feel we belong to them, and we feel comfortable in them, and they help increase self-esteem and good feelings, for the most part. We retain the "rules" we have learned in primary groups, as well.

Secondary groups are larger and more impersonal, and we don't learn as much from them as we do from primary groups. These secondary groups include civic organizations, political parties, and other groups that come together by choice, but have fewer items in common that primary groups. As the text notes, groups like these often break down into smaller groups that become primary groups, because we get the most and feel the most comfortable in primary groups. Sometimes these groups are voluntary associations, such as the political parties, and often, the problem with these groups, and why they break down, is because the leaders become detached from the people they lead, and only trust a few of their "inner circle." (Sounds like the political system!) Not everything is a group, and groups have great influence on us, they can create feelings of superiority, loyalty, and rivalries, and they can even lead to violence and hate in the name of common beliefs and group peer pressure.

In real-life, it is easy to see how groups can influence our thoughts, actions, and lives. For example, in a family, the ideas and actions of the mother and father influence the children. That's easy to see when you see a family shopping, and the child swears after the parent swears at something. Gangs, a primary group, are also an excellent example. In the ghetto, to fit in and survive, you have to become a member of a gang, and you might commit actions of violence or illegal activities that you wouldn't consider otherwise because you have to, in order to be a part of that primary group. Otherwise, you face rejection, and in some cases even murder or other violence. This indicates the great influence groups can have over our minds and our actions, and indicates how whole groups of people can get swept up into a movement like Nazism, where Hitler created a "master race" that was better than everyone else and wanted to exterminate others from the earth. That's a good example of a very frightening and influential primary group (the German people, which seems like a secondary group, but they had nationalistic pride that brought them together as a "family").