So the reason for that "almost sounds like a Hollywood blockbuster movie" name is because addressing the concept of groups in relation to its importance in the social science field is a relatively new branch of the social science. text in this field specifically are sparse as studies carried on groups and their dynamics are usually documented in research findings. studies carried out on groups dynamics has benefited some related social science fields like sociology, social psychology, clinical psychology etc. the million dollar or naira(okay or rand too)question at this point in time now is What is a group? lets start with some definitions of groups by some theorist:
"A group can range from small collectives like dyads(a group entailing just two individuals) and triads to mobs crowds and congregations" Simmel, 1902.
"groups tend to be relatively small in size on the average, they range from two to seven members" Mullen, 1987.
"a group is a collection of individuals who have relations to one another" Cartwright & Zander, 1968.
"a group is a social unit which consist of a number of individuals who stand in (more or less) definite status and role relationships to one another" Sherif & Sherrif, 1956.
looking at the different definitions given by the different theorist we can deduce that a group firstly takes two or more individuals to constitute. there has to also be some kind of relationship among them to be considered a group. we can also deduce that theorist are not of one mind when it comes to defining groups, some stress the importance of communication between members, others highlight the key role played by mutual dependence. lets try and look at the groups we are part of;our family, friends, spouses, "baes" etc. you should sense that there has to be some sort of structure binding the relations in the group or we might as well all be strangers to each other. this structure is what Forsyth identified as the complex of roles, norms and inter-member relations that organizes a group. roles specify the general behaviour expected of people who occupy different positions within the group. norms are consensual standard that describe what behaviours should and should not be performed in a given context. it basically shapes group members interaction. a group should have an amount of cohesion for it to hold firm and survive the long run of course. like in physics the molecular integrity of matter is known as cohesiveness. when a matter is cohesive, the particles that constitute it bond together so tightly that they resist any competing attractions. a groups cohesion thus will require a solid structure. now you must be thinking is a congregation of people in a soccer stadium a group? Donald campbell answered that with entitavity which he described as the extent to which an assemblage of individuals is percieved to be a group rather than n aggregation of independent, unrelated individuals. for example if you see a family in a park you could almost immediately assume them to be a group due to how your perceive the groups cohesion. on the other hand you might not be so quick to refer to congregation of individuals watching a football match in a stadium as a group because there doesnt appear to be a modicum of cohesiveness. some researchers however identify this large congregations as groups which some refer to as collectives. at this point in time i am sure you have learnt a thing or two about groups that you didnt know before. well that's the whole point of this post, so thank you for your time and in the next post we shall look at some types of groups found in society.
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