Subject: Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Author: Mr. Wendell P. Soriano

Editor: Mrs. Crista E. Macale and Mr. Jaycie B. Robles
Reviewer: Mr. Elmar A. Cundangan and Mr. Victor T. Reyes

LESSON 5: SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

Description of the Lesson

Our society consists of different organizations. Each organization has its own contribution
which affects certain individuals, or the whole society itself.

Social organization is defined as the system of relationships between persons and among
groups with regard to the division of activity and the functional arrangement of mutual
obligations within society. Knowing social organization can help us understand the
importance of each organization’s role to the development of the entire society.

Objectives (What I Need to Know)

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to:
1. describe the organized nature of social life and rules governing behavior;
2. value the different social forms of social organization according to their manifest and latent
functions; and
3. demonstrate understanding on how to become culturally competent.

Day 1
Pre-assessment (What I know)
Direction: Identify what is being asked. Encircle the letter of the correct answer.
1. What is the name of the famous poet who wrote: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man
is a part of the continent, a part of the main.”
a. John Donne c. Johan Dominic
b. Elizabeth Keller d. Jan Donee
2. It is defined as a group of individuals intimately interact and cooperate over a long period of
time.
a. Group Society c. Primary Group
b. Secondary Group d. Nomadic
3. It is defined as the web of social-relationships that form an important part of the live of most
human.
a. Social Group c. Family
b. Kinship d. Relatives

Lesson Content (What’s New)

THE HUMAN SOCIETY
A human society is a group of people who are persistent in social interaction, or a large group of people
having the same geographical location, under the same political sovereignty and social territory, and
most importantly cultural expectations. Human society is characterized by social patterns of relationship.
Page 1 of 6
A given society may be described as the sum of the total social pattern relationship (social pattern), in
which member of the society may benefit in ways that would not otherwise possible in an individual
basis. Society can also be consisting of people with the same mind. People govern by their own norms or
beliefs; thus, they are referred to as subculture.
The most famous poet, John Donne once wrote: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a
part of the continent, a part of the main”. He recognized the most distinctive characteristics of human as
social animal whose behavior, characteristics and personality are influence by the group they belong.
Throughout life, most of the daily activities of people are performed in the company of a group.
Remember that humans need to have someone in both a practical and psychological purposes. It is
recognizable that prolonged deprivation of human to human company may result to mental breakdown.
Even in Geneva Convention, an international agreement that regulates the treatment of prisoners of war
recognized this need. It regards solitary confinement for more than 30 days as a cruel and barbarous
form of torture (Robertson, 1987:167).
WHAT IS KINSHIP?
In anthropology, kinship is defined as the web of social relationship that forms an important part of the
lives of most humans in most societies, although its exact meaning even within this discipline is often
debated. According to Robin Fox “the study of kinship is the study of what man does with these basic
facts of life – mating, gestation, parenthood, socialization, siblingship and etc.” Human society is
unique, he argues, in that we are “working with the same raw materials as exist in the animal world, but
[we] can conceptualize and categorize it to serve social ends.” These social ends include the
socialization of children and the formation of basic, economic, political and religious groups.
Kinship can refer both to the patterns of social relationships themselves, or it can refer to the study of the
patterns of social relationships in one or more human cultures (i.e. kinship studies). Over its history,
anthropology has developed a number of related concepts and terms in the study of kinship, such as
descents, descent group, lineage, affinity/affine, consanguinity/cognate and fictive kinship. Further, even
within these two broad usages of the term, there are different theoretical approaches.
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY GROUP
Primary group is typically a small group (small scale society) whose members shared close, intimate
and enduring relationship. This kind of group is marked by member’s concern for one another, in shared
activities and culture. Example includes family, childhood friends, and highly influential social groups.
The concept of the primary group was introduced by Charles Cooley, as sociologist from the Chicago
School of Sociology, in his book Social Organization: A Study of the Larger Mind. Although before, it
is referred to as the first intimate group of a person’s childhood, the classification was later extended to
include other intimate members of the society.
A primary group is a group in which one exchange implicit items, such as love, caring concern,
animosity, support and etc. Example of this are family group, love relationships, crisis support and
church group. Relationships that are formed by the primary groups are usually long-lasting, and thus
provide psychological comfort and source of support.
Secondary Groups interact on a less personal level compare to the primary group. The relationships
that are formed by the secondary groups are more temporary. Since secondary groups are established to
perform functions, people’s roles are more interchangeable. This kind of group is by choice. They are
based on activities and interest. This group is where many people meet close friends or people they
would just call acquaintance. Secondary groups are groups in which one exchanges explicit commodity,
such as labor for wages, services for payments and etc. Examples of these would be employment,
vendor-to-client relationships.
OUTGROUP (CLADISTICS)
In cladistics or phylogenetics, an out-group is a group of organism that serves as a reference group when
determining the evolutionary relationship among three or more monophyletic group of organisms. The
out-group is used as point of comparison for the in-group. The set organisms under study, specifically
allows the phylogeny to be rooted. Due to the the polarity (direction) of characters, change can only be
determined on a rooted phylogeny. The choice of out-group is essential for understanding the evolution

Page 2 of 6
of traits along a phylogeny. The chosen out-group is hypothesized to be closely related to the other
groups but less closely related that any single one of the other groups is to each other.
IN-GROUPS AND OUT-GROUPS
In sociology and social psychology, in-group is a social group to which one identifies itself as being
member. By contrast, out-group is a group in which one does not identify itself. For example, it is
psychologically meaningful, to identify you based on your race, culture, gender and age or religion.
REFERENCE GROUP
By definition, a reference group is a group to which an individual or another group is compared.
Sociologists call any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own
behavior a reference group.
Reference group are used in order to determine the nature of other individual or group’s characteristics
and sociological attributes. Reference groups provide the benchmarks and contrast needed for
comparison and evaluation of group and personal characteristics. Robert K. Merton hypothesized that
individuals compare themselves with reference group of people who occupy the social role to which the
individual aspires. Reference groups are groups that people refer to when evaluating their [own]
qualities circumstances, attributes, values and behaviors.

The Looking-Glass Self

The looking-glass self describes the process wherein individuals base their sense
of self on how they believe others view them. Using social interaction as a type
of “mirror,” people use the judgments they receive from others to measure their
own worth, values, and behavior. According to Self, Symbols, & Society,
Cooley’s theory is notable because it suggests that self-concept is built not in
solitude, but rather within social settings. In this way, society and individuals are
not separate, but rather two complementary aspects of the same phenomenon.

Source:https://lesley.edu/article/perception-is-reality-the-looking-glass-self

SOCIAL ROLES
As expected, each of us should have a role in the society or in a group. Individual or personal roles are
different from social roles. When an individual is in a group, that individual must perform his social role
– not personal role. He must perform his role based on the social norms.
Performance of social roles depends on the cohesiveness of the members. Here are the following:
1. Number of friends is the degree of cooperation and participation of the group on various
activities depend on the number of relatives and friends in the group. The more friends or family
in the group the more cohesive it is.
2. Morale of the members, when the morale of the group is high, the group confidence with each
other is also high, thus the group cohesiveness increase.
3. Sense of belongingness, when members of the group have the sense of belongingness, loyalty
emerges. The members even go to the extent of protectiveness and defending the group in
existence.
4. Commitment of the members, members of the group is committed to the values, norms,
activities and goals of the group. The more committed the member is the more cohesive the
group will become.
INSTITUTIONS

Page 3 of 6
Institutions provide a framework of continuity and predictability to allow members of the society to plan
their activities accurately. Teachers and parents need to provide routine to young children, but ironically
we adults need to make our own routines for modern civilization to be possible.

SOCIAL NETWORK
This is an element of social interaction that exists in the web of social relationships among people, either
directly or indirectly. Example, a student may have social networks such as his friends, classmates,
administrator of the school, personnel in the bookstore and etc. However, his first social network is his
family and relatives.
Social networks have significant functions;
1. They help an individual to develop its opinions, choices and point of views.
2. Source of information on any activity and concerns of the individuals.
3. Influence the personality of the people.
4. Provides opportunity and control to one’s behavior
5. Provide a source of companionship.
6. Provide economic transactions opportunity.
7. Provides society’s resources distribution.

On one of the first true social media sites, SixDegrees.com,

you could set up a profile page, create lists of connections,
and send messages within networks.The site amassed
around one million users before it was bought out for $125
million …and shuttered in 2000, though it later made a
modest comeback and still subsists today.

Source:https://blog.hootsuite.com/history-social-media/#:~:text=1.,and
%20send%20messages%20within%20networks.

Day 2
Review
Good Day! I hope you had fun yesterday with our lesson. I am confident that you understand our topic.
Today, I am encouraging you to read your notes and afterwards answer the questions below. Good luck
and happy Learning.
Activity No. 1
Direction: Explain the following questions briefly using five sentences. Write your answer on a one
whole sheet of intermediate paper.
1. Is your “class” a primary or secondary group? Support your answer.
2. Give at least 3 examples of in-group and out-group.
3. As a student what is your reference group? And why do you consider it as your reference group?

Day 3
Valuing/Integration (What’s more)

Page 4 of 6
Hi, I hope you are doing fine. I know that you are excited for today’s activity. Let us start!
Activity 2: Memory Check
Direction: In your own point of view and understanding, explain the meaning of the following terms
and phrases, in 5 sentences.
a. Human Society
b. Kinship
c. Primary group
d. Secondary group
e. Out-group
f. In-group
g. Peers
h. Reference group
i. Social Roles
j. Social Network
Day 4
Application (What I can do)
We are almost done with our lesson. I am so proud that you are doing great with our module. For
today’s activity we will deepen our understanding about the lesson.
Activity 3: Completion Type
Direction: Complete the statement to give meaning and sense of such by choosing the word enclosed
inside the parenthesis. Write your answer on a one whole sheet of intermediate paper.
1. A given society may be described as the sum of total relationships among its (benevolent,
constituent, sufficient) members.
2. Social ends of kinship include the socialization of children and the formation of basic economic
and (democratic, religious, socialistic) groups.
3. Human relations through (friendship, companionship, marriage) are called affinity.
4. Degrees of relationships are not identical to (heirship, genetic, sibling) or legal successions.
5. When applied to human relationships, kinship is closer to (affinity, consanguinity, solidarity).
6. The out-group is used as a point of comparison for the (reference group, social group, in-group)
in human society.
7. Reference groups provide the (performance, benchmarks, appearance) and contrast need for
comparison and evaluation.
8. Individual (compares, adjusts, situates) itself with reference groups.
9. It is used as standard for evaluating oneself and one’s behavior known as (in-group, primary
group, reference group).
10. The significance of in-group and out-group categorization was identified using a method called
the (minimal, maximal, sublimal) group paradigm.

Day 5
Post Assessment (What I have learned)
Today is the last day of our Week 5: Social Organization. Are you now ready? Let us begin.
Activity 4: Critical Thinking
Direction: Answer the following analytical questions using your critical thinking skills. Write your
answer on a one whole sheet of intermediate paper. Explain it briefly using seven sentences.
1. How does a human group form? Is it different from an aggregate of people?
2. In what way does a social network serve as a useful element of social interactions?
3. Under what condition do people tend to cooperate best? Support your answer.

Page 5 of 6
Direction: React favorably or unfavorably to the following statements. Support your answer in 5
sentences. Write it on a piece of paper.
1. If you are given a gift, you must also reciprocate in return.
2. Not all groups that exist have purposes or goals.
3. The actions of members in a group are controlled by the norms of the group.

Congratulations! I am happy that you were able to finish our module on SOCIETY. Now I am
encouraging you to share with me, what is your most favorite part of this module? Your answer will
help me improve the module for our next topic. Please write your answer on the space provided.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

REMINDERS:

Things you have to remember before you finish this module.

1. Keep the following and put it in your portfolio

-Notes and activities written on one whole sheet of intermediate paper.
2. If you have questions, clarification and suggestions please send a message to your teacher via
SMS or CHAT.

References:
Ariola, Mariano M., Sociology and Anthropology with Family Planning. Manil: Purely Books Trading
&Publishing Corp., 2012.
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/social-groups-and-organizations/social-
organizations: Retrieved on September 17, 2020.

Page 6 of 6