Chapter 6 Flashcards
Social Groups and Organizations
Bureaucracy
A formal, rationally organized social structure divided into offices with specific tasks run on principles of impartiality
Reference group
A group a person uses as a guide to values, beliefs and behaviour
Secondary group
A goal-orientated, large, impersonal, more formal group
Ideal type
A simplified model used to illustrate a concept
Social organization
The relatively stable pattern of social relationships among individuals and groups in society
Subgroup
A splinter group. usually created informally, to enable face-to-face interaction
Primary group
A group of people who know one another well and interact as complete individuals rather than in specialized roles
Dyad
A group of two people
Triad
A group of three people
Mechanical solidarity
Social solidarity based on similarity among people and strong commitment to the collective conscience
Organic solidarity
Social solidarity based on difference and the fitting together of specialized tasks
Oligarchy
Rule by a small group of self-interested people
Social institutions
The ordered social relationships that grow out of values, norms, statuses and roles that organize the activities that fulfill society’s fundamental needs
Gemeinschaft
(Community) A group in which relations are intimate, personal and cooperative
Social group
People who share goals, norms and a common identity
Associations
Purposefully created groups with clearly defined goals and procedures
Social aggregate
People who have little in common but are in the same place together
Collective conscience
Durkheim’s term for the shared fundamental beliefs and values of a group
Gesellschaft
(Society) A group in which relations are impersonal and independent
Instrumental
Focused on accomplishing concrete tasks
Expressive
Concerning feelings and interpersonal relationships
Max Weber
Emphasized the importance of bureaucracy as a social development
Robert Michels
Originated the idea of the iron law of oligarchy
Ferdinand Tönnies
Developed the concepts of gemeinschaft and gesellschaft
