SOCIETY

Definition
1. “A society is a collection of individuals united by certain relations or mode of behavior
which mark them off from others who do not enter into these relations or who differ from
them in behavior”. —Morris Ginsberg
2. “Society is the complex of organized associations and institutions with a community”. —
G.D.M. Cole
3. “Society is the union itself, the organization, the sum of formal relations in which
associating individuals are bound .together.” ’ — Prof. Giddings
4. “The term society refers not to group of people, but to the complex pattern of the norms
of interaction, that arise among and between them”. — Lapiere
5. Society is “a web of social relationship”. - Maclver

Characteristics of Society
The basic characteristics of society are as follows:
1) Society consists of People. Society is composed of people. Without the students and the
teachers there can be no college and no university. Similarly, without people there can be
no society, no social relationships, and no social life at all.
2) Mutual Interaction and Mutual Awareness. Society is a group of people in continuous
interaction with each other. It refers to the reciprocal contact between two or more
persons. It is ‘a process whereby men interpenetrate the minds of each other'. An
individual is a member of society so long as he engages in relationship with other
members of society. It means that individuals are in continuous interaction with other
individuals of society. The limits of society are marked by the limits of social
interactions.
Social interaction is made possible because of mutual awareness. Society is understood as
a network of social relationships. But not all relations are social relations. Social
relationships exist only when the members are aware of each other. Society exists only
where social beings 'behave' towards one another in ways determined by their recognition
of one another. Without this awareness there can be no society. A social relationship, thus
implies mutual awareness.
3) Society Depends on Likeness. The principle of likeness is essential for society. It exists
among these who resemble one another in some degree, in body and in mind. Likeness
refers to the similarities. People have similarities with regards to their seeds, works, aims,
ideals, values, outlook towards life and so on. Just as the 'birds of the same feather flock
together', men belonging to the same species called 'Homo sapiens', have many things in
common.
Society, hence, rests on what F.H. Giddings calls consciousness of kind. “Comradeship,
intimacy, association of any kind or degree would be impossible without some
understanding of each by the other and that understanding depends on the likeness which
each apprehends in the other”. Society in brief, exists among like beings and likeminded.
4) Society Rests on Difference Too. Society also implies difference. A society based
entirely on likeness and uniformities is bound to be loose in socialites. If men are exactly
alike, their social relationships would be very much limited. There would be little give-
and-take, little reciprocity. They would contribute very little to one another. More than
that, life becomes boring, monotonous and uninteresting, if differences are not there.
Hence, we find difference in society. Family for example, rests on the biological
difference between the sexes. People differ from one another in their looks, personality,
ability, talent, attitude, interest, taste, intelligence, faith and so on. People pursue different
activities because of these differences. Thus we find farmers, laborers, teachers, soldiers,
businessmen, bankers, engineers, doctors, advocates, writers, artists, scientists,
musicians, actors, politicians, bureaucrats and others working in different capacities, in
different fields in society. However, difference alone cannot create society. It is
subordinate to likeness.
5) Co-operation and Division of Labour. Primarily likeness and secondarily difference
create the division of labour. Division of labour involves the assignment to each unit or
group a specific share of a common task. For example, the common task of producing
cotton clothes is shared by a number of people like the farmers who grow cotton, the
spinners, and weavers, the dyers, and the merchants. Similarly, at home work is divided
and shared by the father, mother and children. Division of labour leads to specialization.
Division of labour and specialization are the hallmarks of modem complex society.
Division of labour is possible because of co-operation. Society is based on co-operation.
 It is the very basis of our social life. As C.H. Cooley says, ‘co-operation arises when men
realize that they have common interests’. It refers to the mutual working together for the
attainment of a common goal. Men satisfy many of their desires and fulfil interests
through joint efforts. People may have direct or indirect co-operation among them. Thus
co-operation and division of labour have made possible social solidarity or social
cohesion.
6) Society Implies Interdependence Also. Social relationships are characterized by interde-
pendence: Family, the most basic social group, for example, is based upon the
interdependence of man and woman. One depends upon the other for the satisfaction of
one’s needs. As society advances, the area of interdependence also grows. Today, not
only individuals are interdependent upon one another, but even, communities, social
groups, societies and nations are also interdependent.
7) Society is Dynamic. Society is not static; it is dynamic. Change is ever present in society.
Changeability is an inherent quality of human society. No society can ever remain
constant for any length of time. Society is like water in a stream or river that for ever
flows. It is always in flux.'Old men die and new ones are born. New associations and
institutions and groups may come into being and old ones may die a natural death. The
existing ones may undergo changes to suit the demands of time or they may give birth to
the new ones. Changes may take place slowly and gradually or suddenly and abruptly.
8) Social Control. Society has its own ways and means of controlling the behavior of its
members. Co-operation, no doubt exists in society. But, side by side, competitions,
conflicts, tensions, revolts, rebellions and suppressions are also there. They appear and
re-appear off and on. Clash of economic or political or religious interests is not
uncommon. Left to themselves, they may damage the very fabric of society. They are to
be controlled. The behavior or the activities of people are to be regulated. Society has
various formal as well as informal means of social, control. It means, society has
customs, traditions, conventions and folkways, mores, manners, etiquettes and the
informal means of social control. Also it has law, legislation, constitution, police, court,
any and other formal means of social control to regulate the behaviour of its members.
9) Culture. Each society is distinct from the other. Every society is unique because it has its
own way of life, called culture. Culture refers to, as Linton says, the social heritage of
 man. It includes the whole range of our life. It includes our attitudes, judgments, morals,
values, beliefs, ideas, ideologies and our institutions: political, legal, economic; our
sciences and philosophies. Culture is the expression of human nature in our ways of
living and thinking, in behaving, and acting as members of society. Culture and society
go together. What distinguishes one society from the other is culture. Culture is a thing
which only human beings possess. It is not found at the level of animals. Culture is not
society, but an element of society. As Gillin and Gillin say, “Culture is the cement
binding together into a society its component individuals;... human society is people
interacting; culture is the patterning of their behaviour”.
10) There is yet another attribute on which society depends. It is the gregarious nature of
man. Aristotle said that “man is a social animal”. Psychologists like McDougall, say that
man is social because of the basic human instinct called the gregarious instinct.
Gregariousness refers to the tendency of man to live in groups. Man always lives amidst
men. He cannot live without it. This internal nature of man has forced him to establish
social groups and societies and to live in them. Human life and society almost go
together. Man_is-born-in society and bred up .in society, nourished and nurtured in
society. From childhood to adolescence, from adolescence to youth, from youth to
maturity, from maturity to old age, from old age up to death, man lives in society. He
depends on society for protection and comfort, for nurture and education. Participation in
society is necessary for the development of personality. Various cases show that man can
become man only among men.
Society makes our life livable. It is the nurse of youth, the arena of manhood and womanhood.
Society is, therefore, as Maclver puts it, more than our environment. It is within us as well as
around us. Society not only liberates the activities of men, but it limits their activities also. It
controls their behaviour in countless ways. It shapes our attributes, our beliefs, our morals and
our ideals. Emotional development, intellectual maturity, satisfaction of physical needs and
material comforts are unthinkable without society. Society is a part of our mental equipment and
we are a part of society. It stimulates the growth of our personality. It liberates and controls our
talents and capacities.

2. THE PROCESS OF SOCIALISATION

Every man tries to adjust himself to the conditions of his social environment This process of
adjustment is itself socialisation. The social order is maintained largely by socialisation.
Individuals learn to conform to the norms of the group. This helps the group to maintain its
order. Socialisation is a process of transforming the human animal into a human being, of
converting the biological being into a social being. 'No one understands the process thoroughly' -
as Kingsley Davis remarks. It is still as mysterious as photosynthesis or organic ageing. It is true
that direct socialisation begins only after birth. Man, as an organism, has some internal factors or
forces which limit or help his socialisation. These internal forces relevant to the process of
socialisation are: (i) reflexes, (Zz) instincts, (iiP) urges, (iv) capacities, and (v) comprehension
and educability. We shall now examine the phenomenon of socialisation as such.

Socialisation is a Continuous Process

Socialisation is a process of inducting the individual into the social world. It consists in teaching
culture which he must acquire and share. Socialisation is social learning. This learning is not
intermittent but continuous. The more we try to learn the more remains to be learnt. Perfection in
social learning is rarely achieved. The process of socialisation is something that continues
throughout life. We must not think that there is a stage in learning at which a man has learnt
everything about his group and that thereafter, he ceases to learn.
Man belongs to different groups at different stages of his life. As these groups change, so we
must learn new rules, new patterns of behaviour. Moreover, we do not remain within the same
role. Eventhough, we are members of family all our life, we are constantly changing our roles
within it, acquiring new roles, dropping or modifying old ones. We begin as children, pass
through adolescence into adulthood, marry, become parents, enter middle age, retire and grow
old. With each role come new patterns of behaviour that we must learn. Thus, throughout our
life, we are involved in the socialisation process. Even at the door of death we are being
socialised. The staff of hospitals, for example, have a conception of what is a 'good' way to die.
They try to socialise their ding patients into the ways of dying in a ‘proper’manner.

Timing
Timing is important in socialisation. Physical maturity by itself cannot produce perfect human
adults without socialisation. Socialisation and maturation may proceed together in the early years
of the life cycle. Our attempts to teach the child will have varying effects depending upon the
point reached in the maturation of the child. For example, we cannot expect the child to be quiet
before he is capable of sustained inhibition.

Socialisation and Development of the ‘Self

The heart of the process of socialisation is the emergence and gradual development of the ‘self or
‘ego'. It is in terms of the self that personality takes shape and mind comes to function. The
notion of self begins to arise as the child learns something of the world of sensations about him.
Everyone who is alive, in any society, has a consciousness of self. When a child is born it has no
consciousness of itself or of others. He does not possess those behaviour mechanisms which
make an individual a part and member of any group. The child at birth is not conscious of any of
the self and other relationships. These relationships the child learns through the process of
socialisation.'

The ‘Self is Social. The term ‘self is often used to mean ‘self image.' Some writers like G.
Murphy view the self simply as the person’s conception of himself as a totality. But G.H. Mead
would rather regard self as purely ‘social' in nature. It is true that the self develops out of the
child’s communicative contact with others. The idea of self develops in conjunction with the idea
of other things. He learns that they are distinct beings and that he too has individuality..
Acquaintance with his name and use of pronouns such as T, ‘Me',. ‘Myself, etc. help the process
of self-discovery. Little children’s answers to such questions as ‘What is your name?’ and
'Whose boy are you?' etc., would emphasize the idea of self in relation to others.