social community

Social community(English community - community, community, association, unity, inseparability) - a real association of people, objectively given by the way of their stable relationship, in which they act (manifest themselves) as a collective subject of social action.

Often the category of social community is interpreted as a too broad concept that unites various populations of people, which are characterized by only some of the same features, the similarity of life and consciousness. Etymologically, the word "community" goes back to the word "general". The philosophical category “general” is not similarity, not repetition, and not sameness, but the unity of differences interconnected within the framework of a single whole, or one in many ways (the unity of the manifold).

Social community is a generic concept in relation to the concept of "society". Society (in a broad sense) is understood as a historically established community of people. Historically, the first form of existence of the human race as a community was the tribal community. In the process of the historical development of society, the main forms of human life activity - social communities - also changed.

The social community is objectively set by the real way of social interconnection of people and reflects the everyday form of their collective life activity - association. Social communities of various types are determined by one way or another (type) of the relationship of people. In the concept of K. Marx and F. Tönnies, two such types are distinguished:

The first type of interrelation of people is typical for archaic (primitive communal) and traditional (slave-owning, feudal) society, the second - for an industrial type society (capitalist).

With a more detailed typology, the following types of connections are distinguished: organic (psychophysiological), socio-organic, civilizational, formational and socio-cultural.

These types of connections arose in sociogenesis, in the process of the historical development of society:

• In the prehistoric era, people interacted as beings of nature - physically, biochemically, psychophysiologically, therefore the type of connection is called organic.
• The history of society begins its countdown from the archaic era. But this does not mean at all that before that they were not interconnected, their connection was maintained biologically - genetically, psychophysiologically. People have not created and are not creating any fundamentally different, radically different from organic, social methods of interconnection, but on a substrate already prepared by nature, they begin to build on others - social ones. Therefore, the resultant was called the social-organic way of interconnection of people. During this period, matrimonial (family and marriage) and ethnic communities are formed.
• As humanity enters the era of civilization, associated with the further division of labor and the emergence of new forms of organizational and economic activity, a new "ring" is formed on the "tree" of ways of interconnections - civilizational. This historically coincides with the formation of an agrarian, traditional type of society. The beginning of the era of civilization is associated with the beginning of the formation of professional, estate-corporate, confessional communities.
• The next "coil" of history is formational, associated with the formation of modern forms of organizational and economic life - such as the economy itself and politics, based on market and planned regulation mechanisms, and the emergence of such social communities as classes, first as economic, later as political, ultimately - social classes.
• The current trend manifests itself in such a way that a new socio-cultural (social communication) type of communication is being formed on various layers of "sociality" - the basis of the new information society and its social communities.
• In his ontogenesis in the process of socialization, a person repeats sociogenesis - turns on, masters and builds up on the already existing, accumulated "layer" a new "layer" of ways of his relationship with other people.

Communities of different types and types are forms of human coexistence, joint life of people who differ in one way or another by the commonality of social norms, value systems and interests, and due to this - more or less the same properties (in all or some aspects of life) of conditions and image life, consciousness, psychological traits.

Social communities are characterized not only by the presence of common objective characteristics, but also, in comparison with other human multitudes, by the awareness of their unity through a developed sense of common connection and belonging. The perception and awareness of this connection is realized as a bipolarity "we - they" (through the opposition "us" - "them").

People are simultaneously members of various communities, with varying degrees of internal unity. Therefore, often unity in one (eg, in nationality) can give way to difference in another (eg, in class).

Often, social community is understood as a classification of people. Classification is an association of people based on a number of common features, their coincidence, repetition (and it doesn’t matter how they are defined - significant, significant - most likely for the classifier himself). While the social community is a form of real collective life activity of people, which is (association) based on an objectively given method of interconnection, in which they show solidarity actions both purposefully rationally, calculating the benefits of “we” over “others”, and stereotypically , affectively and value-rationally - routinely, with feelings and belief in it. Signs of similarity and difference are therefore secondary to them.

Social communities can be classified on various grounds - those formed in the sphere of social production (classes, professional groups, etc.), formed on an ethnic basis (nationalities, nations), growing on the basis of demographic (gender and age communities), family and marriage, etc. associations of people.

Quite often, the incorrect classification of social communities turns into the fact that the latter include those who are not such - social categories, practical groups and social aggregates as different aggregate states of the human multitude. Such human sets are usually subdivided into imaginary (pseudo) communities, contact (quasi) communities (diffuse groups), and group communities (practical groups).

In the classification of social communities, social-settlement, territorial, demographic, matrimonial (family-marriage), ethnic, confessional (religious), professional, industrial, cultural-educational, leisure-communicative, status-role, social-class and other types of social communities are distinguished. communities.

social classes

Class stratification is characteristic of open societies. It differs significantly from caste and class stratification. These differences appear as follows:

• classes are not created on the basis of legal and religious norms, membership in them is not based on hereditary status;
• class systems are more fluid, and the boundaries between classes are not rigidly delineated;
• classes depend on economic differences between groups of people associated with inequalities in the ownership and control of material resources;
• class systems carry out mainly connections of an impersonal nature. The main basis of class differences - the inequality between conditions and wages - operates in relation to all professional groups as a result of economic circumstances belonging to the economy as a whole;
• social mobility is much simpler than in other stratification systems, there are no formal restrictions for it, although mobility is really constrained by a person's starting capabilities and the level of his claims.

Classes can be defined as large groups of people that differ in their general economic opportunities, which significantly affect their types of lifestyle.

The most influential theoretical approaches in the definition of classes and class stratification belong to K. Marx and M. Weber. M. Weber defined classes as groups of people who have a similar position in a market economy, receive similar economic rewards and have similar life chances.

Class divisions stem not only from control of the means of production, but also from economic differences not related to property. Such sources include professional excellence, rare specialty, high qualifications, intellectual property ownership, and so on. Weber gave not only class stratification, considering it only a part of the structuring necessary for a complex capitalist society. He proposed a three-dimensional division: if economic differences (by wealth) give rise to class stratification, then spiritual (by prestige) - status, and political (by access to power) - party. In the first case, we are talking about the life chances of social strata, in the second - about the image and style of their life, in the third - about the possession of power and influence on it. Most sociologists consider the Weberian scheme to be more flexible and appropriate for modern society.

Notes

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• Student social card (Moscow)
• social pedagogy

See what "Social community" is in other dictionaries:

SOCIAL COMMUNITY The latest philosophical dictionary

social community- See Social Group... Dictionary of sociolinguistic terms

SOCIAL COMMUNITY- a set of people identified according to the criterion of territorial and socio-cultural parameters and united by stable ties and relationships. A certain number of people become S.O. not because subject content is attributed to them, ... ... Sociology: Encyclopedia

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social structure- Social structure is a set of interrelated elements that make up the internal structure of society. The concept of "social structure" is used both in ideas about society as a social system in which the social structure ... ... Wikipedia

SOCIAL STRUCTURE- a set of relatively stable links between the elements of a social system, reflecting its essential characteristics. The most important distinguishing feature of S.S. lies in the fact that it is identical to the system (emergent) properties ... ... Sociology: Encyclopedia

social organization- societies (from late Latin organizio I form, I report a slender appearance< лат. organum орудие, инструмент) установленный в обществе нормативный социальный порядок, а также деятельность, направленная на его поддержание или приведение к нему. Под… … Википедия

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY- a science that studies the patterns of behavior and activities of people, due to their inclusion in social groups, as well as psychological. characteristics of these groups. S. p. arose in the middle. 19th century at the intersection of psychology and sociology. To the 2nd ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

COMMON SOCIAL- English. community, social; German Gemeinschaft, soziale. The totality of individuals, characterized by relative integrity, acting as an independent subject of history. and social actions and behaviors and performing one or another joint ... ... Encyclopedia of Sociology

Among mass communities, sociologists share crowd and mass.

Crowd- a set of people who are in direct contact, due to physical proximity. The characteristic of the crowd is given in the works of N. Mikhailovsky “Psychology of the crowd”, “Heroes and the crowd”.

The mass differs from the crowd by mediated contact.

If some significant needs of people are not realized, and they realize ϶ᴛᴏ as a threat to their existence, the mechanisms of protective behavior are activated. There is a community of interest based on anxiety or even fear - a crowd is formed. A person ceases to feel ϲʙᴏ and role masks, removes behavioral restrictions from himself, he, as it were, regresses into the world of primitive passions.

A feeling of special power is formed in the crowd, a multiple increase in their own efforts. A person feels carried away by a common impulse, turns into a part of a single, living organism. At the head of the ϶ᴛᴏth freshly melted community standing leader, and the crowd completely, unquestioningly obeys his will.

There are four main types of crowds:

• random;
• conventional;
• expressive;
• active

Random called such an accumulation, where everyone pursues momentary goals. Such are the queue in the store or at the bus stop, passengers in the same train, plane, bus, walking along the embankment, onlookers watching a traffic accident.

Convention crowd consists of people gathered in a given place and at a given time not by chance, but with pre-set goal.

Participants in a religious service, spectators of a theatrical performance, listeners of a symphony concert or a scientific lecture, football fans observe certain norms and rules that regulate their behavior, make it orderly and predictable. They have a lot in common with the public.

It should be noted that theater audiences know that during the performance it is forbidden to talk and comment on what is happening, engage in polemics with actors, sing songs, etc. On the contrary, football fans are allowed to shout loudly, talk, sing songs, get up, dance, hug and etc. This is an informal agreement (convention) about proper behavior in specific situations, which has become a custom. When in the 1980s sports officials decided to break the ϶ᴛᴏt custom and forbade fans to loudly express ϲʙᴏand emotions, the stadiums plunged into mournful silence. Football ceased to be a celebratory spectacle, attendance plummeted.

expressive crowd, unlike the conventional one, it is collected not in order to be enriched with new knowledge, impressions, ideas, but in order to express ϲʙᴏand feelings and interests.

Urban dance floors, youth discos, rock festivals, holiday festivities and folk festivals (the brightest take place in Latin American countries) are examples of expressive crowds.

active crowd- any of the previous types of the crowd, which manifests itself in action. It is worth noting that she gathers in order to take part in the action, and not only to observe events or express ϲʙᴏ and feelings.

A prominent place among mass social communities is occupied by ethnic communities(ethnos), which can be represented by various social formations: tribe, nationality, nation. Ethnos- ϶ᴛᴏ a stable collection of people, historically formed in a certain territory, having common features and stable features of culture and psychological make-up, as well as the consciousness of ϲʙᴏ its unity and difference from other similar formations (self-awareness)

Natural a prerequisite for the formation of or another ethnic group will have a common territory, since it is she who creates the conditions for close communication and uniting people. Subsequently, when the ethnos was formed, the ϶ᴛᴏt attribute acquires secondary importance and may be completely absent.

Another important condition for the formation of an ethnos will be common language, although the ϶ᴛᴏt sign of an ethnic group does not have an absolute value.

The greatest influence in ethnic community has the unity of such components of spiritual culture as values, norms and patterns of behavior, as well as related socio-psychological characteristics consciousness and behavior of people.

Integrative an indicator of the formed ethnic community is ethnic identity — feeling of belonging to a certain ethnic group. plays a prominent role in ethnic identity notion of common origin and historical destinies of people included in the ethnic group, based on genealogical legends, participation in historical events, on communication with their native land, native language.

Formed ethnos functions as an integral social mechanism and is gradually reproduced through internal marriages and through the system of socialization. It is worth saying, for a more sustainable existence ethnos strives to the creation of its socio-territorial organizations tribal or state type. Over time, separate parts of the formed ethnos can be separated by political and state borders. But even under these conditions, they can retain their ethnic identity as belonging to the same social community.

As an example, we can consider the formation and development of the Russian ethnos. The premise of its formation is the territory of the Northern Black Sea region, where a significant part of the Slavic tribes moved as a result of migration. The formation of the Russian ethnos is subject to all the laws described above.

A radical shift in the formation of the Russian ethnos occurred in the middle of the ninth century. From the ϶ᴛᴏth time, the researchers believe, the highest form of the Russian ethnos begins to form - the Russian nation. The original concept of the main features and conditions for the formation of the Russian nation was proposed by P. A. Sorokin. According to Sorokin, the nation will be a diverse (multifunctional) solidary, organized, semi-closed socio-cultural group, at least partially aware of the fact of its existence and development. By the way, this group consists of individuals who: will be citizens of one state; have a common or similar language and a common set of cultural values ​​derived from a common past history of these individuals and their predecessors; occupy the common territory on which they live or their ancestors lived. P. A. Sorokin emphasizes that only when a group of individuals belongs to a single state, is connected by a common language, culture and territory, does it really form a nation.

The Russian nation in the indicated sense arose as a nation from the moment the Russian state was formed in the middle of the ninth century. The totality of the main features of the Russian nation includes its relatively long existence, enormous vitality, perseverance, the outstanding willingness of its representatives to make sacrifices, as well as the extraordinary territorial, demographic, political, social and cultural development during its historical life.

The formation of the Russian nation was greatly influenced by the adoption at the end of the 10th century. Orthodoxy as the state religion of Kievan Rus (the famous baptism on the Dnieper in 998 by Prince Vladimir ϲʙᴏ of their subjects) Orthodoxy from the end of the 9th to the 18th century. Later, the formation of the Russian nation began to be influenced by various aspects of the secular sphere of life, incl. and Western culture.

The fundamental idea of ​​the national spiritual Russian nation for many centuries of its existence was the idea of ​​the unity of the Russian lands. Initially, it was considered as the idea of ​​raising the national-state principle, overcoming feudal fragmentation. By the way, this idea merged with the idea of ​​confrontation with foreign invaders, the Tatar-Mongol conquerors, weakening the economy, trade, ruining Russian cities and villages, taking away relatives and friends into captivity, insulting the moral dignity of Russian people. The subsequent development of the spiritual and moral foundations of the Russian nation is closely connected with the gathering of Russian lands around Moscow, overcoming dependence on the yoke of the Golden Horde, and the formation of a powerful independent state.

History shows that the formation and development of the Russian nation was not smooth. There were ups and downs. There were periods when it temporarily lost its state independence (the Tatar-Mongol conquest), experienced a deep spiritual and moral crisis, a decline in morals, general confusion and vacillation (as in the troubled times of the 16th century or during the revolution and civil war of the early 20th century). .) At the end of the 20th century. it was divided for political reasons into Russia, Belarus, Ukraine within the framework of the CIS. But the advantages of a community of people who are close in blood and spirit will inevitably force the political leadership of these countries to seek and find forms of unification. The creation of the Union of Russia and Belarus, its expansion and deepening is convincing evidence of the expediency of this process.

Social communities act important subjects of social development and social conflict: pensioners, miners, proletarians, townspeople, etc.

Social communities are a real-life association of people, characterized by: 1) some identical objective features (language, work, residence, form of income, etc.), 2) common psychology, views, mentality; 3) a certain role in society.

Due to the psychology (needs, interests, drives), mentality (ideals, values, ways of thinking) inherent in this social community, it becomes a source of social activity and social conflict.

There are group and mass (age, professional, class, etc.) social communities.

Mass social communities are characterized by the absence of direct communication within a large number (miners, transport workers, teachers, etc.); relatively weak cohesion (amorphous); are part of society (or humanity - as ethnic groups). Mass communities consist of social groups. Often the concepts of "community" and "group" are used in the same sense - the association of people.

Social communities are associations of people with stable (regular) interaction in the process of some kind of activity, a high degree of cohesion (community of needs, feelings and views), entry into mass communities. Different social groups perceive each other as "their own" or "them" in terms of the nature of work, manner of behavior and clothing, content and style of conversation, form of leisure and political preferences, etc.

Social communities are divided into small (up to 20 people) and large (over 20 people). Small (primary) social groups are a student group, a labor team, a sports team, etc. and large (secondary) - students of the faculty, the staff of the workshop, athletes of a club, etc. If small social groups are formed as a result of direct, emotional, active interaction of individuals, then large ones - as a result of indirect, formal, organizational interaction.

The most important primary social group (as well as the institution) of society is the family, in which the reproduction and socialization of people takes place.

Social communities differ among themselves according to the main feature that distinguishes them in society (see Fig. 7.3):
1) age groups (youth and pensioners) - differ in their social experience (ideological, political, economic, labor). Some (for example, revolutionaries) accept the present and especially the future, while others, conservatives, deny the future in the name of the past;
2) economic communities (classes) - differ in their place in the system of economy and power, power, psychology and worldview. For classes, subjective characteristics (psychology and worldview) are largely determined by their place in the economic system, for example, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. For classes, the most important are political and economic interests;
3) professional groups - differ in the nature of labor activity (miners, peasants, teachers, etc.), professional interests;
4) national groups - differ in national self-consciousness, language, psychological make-up, traditions and customs, national interests;
5) religious groups - differ in the religion they profess, religious interests, type of cult rites, etc.;
6) urban and rural population - differ in way of life. There are many other social groups.

Definition of social community. Through groups, people are included in the structure of society, grouped in communities. A social community is an association of people (natural or social), which is characterized by a common feature, more or less strong social ties, a common type of behavior, speculation, mindset, goal setting. This concept means the unification of people, starting from a group of two or three people and ending with such communities as a race, nation, confession. Any community is characterized by the allocation of one or another main feature: gender, age, nationality, profession, role, status, etc., which belongs to all members of the community, determines its specificity. It is a consolidating beginning, thanks to which the mass of people acquires the character of a holistic education. An important feature of social community is the social connection between people.

Society is an extremely complex community, which is made up of many other smaller subsystems. In a society, an infinite number of social communities can be distinguished, but in sociology it is customary to single out a “group” and a “layer” (“strata”). The concept of a group gives an idea of ​​the elements of society; the concept of a layer highlights the hierarchy, the structure of society, the links between social layers. The functioning of social relations, institutions of control and organizations gives rise to a complex system social connections managing the needs, interests and goals of people. This system, as a rule, unites groups of individuals into a single whole - a social community that is included in the social system. Social ties determine the external structure of social communities and its functions. The external structure of a community can be determined by its objective data: information about the demographic structure of the community, professional and educational structure, and so on.

The social community directs the actions of its members to achieve group goals and ensures the coordination of these actions, which leads to an increase in its internal cohesion, which is possible due to patterns of behavior, norms, as well as socio-psychological mechanisms that regulate the behavior of its members. Among many types of social communities, a special place in terms of influence on behavior is family, labor collective, groups joint leisure activities, various socio-territorial communities (village, small town, large cities, region, etc.). The family carries out the primary socialization of young people in the course of mastering the norms of social life, forms a sense of security in them, satisfies emotional needs, helps to overcome psychological imbalance, a state of isolation, etc. The territorial community also influences the behavior of its members, especially in the sphere of informal contacts. Professional groups form a sense of labor solidarity among members, provide professional prestige and authority, and control people's behavior from the standpoint of professional morality.

Types of social communities. Society consists of many of its constituent elements - groups, classes, estates, layers. The main types of social communities are real(existing objectively, independently of our consciousness), and nominal(artificially created by the researcher to solve certain problems). Real social communities include: mass communities (quasi-groups), social groups, social organizations.

A mass community (quasi-group) is a real-life collection of people who are accidentally united by common conditions of existence and do not have a stable goal of interaction. Characteristic features of mass communities can be considered: instability, the temporary nature of the coincidence of interests, the uncertainty of composition and boundaries, the unification of individuals by external conditions of existence; inability to enter as elements in other social communities; large number. The danger of the emergence of mass communities lies in the difficulty or impossibility of establishing any social control over them. Today, countless mass communities are emerging. If the reason for the emergence of a mass community is not accidental, then gradually the actions of its members become ordered, conditions appear for the emergence of a social group.

social group- a set of people who have a common social attribute and perform a socially necessary function in the general structure of the social division of labor and activity, united by common goals. The group captures the social differences that arise between individual sets of people in the process of division of labor and activities based on attitudes towards the means of production, power, nature of work, profession, education, level and structure of income, gender, age, nationality, place of residence, lifestyle and others

A social group is characterized by a number of features: 1) sustainability, duration of existence; 2) certainty of composition and boundaries; 3) a common system of values ​​and social norms; 4) awareness of one's belonging to a given social community; 5) the voluntary nature of the association of individuals (for small social groups); 6) the unification of individuals by external conditions of existence (for large social groups); 7) the ability to enter as elements in other social communities.

According to the number and nature of relations, social groups are divided into large and small. Along with common features, small groups have a number of features: 1) the distribution of individuals according to social statuses and roles; 2) the direct nature of the relationship between individuals. The size of a small group can range from two people to tens or hundreds of people. Groups of five to seven people are more productive. Members of larger groups typically contribute more value propositions than members of smaller groups. In a larger group, there is less agreement, but also less tension. This is due to the fact that for large groups the solution of organizational problems is more necessary, and they are forced to coordinate their actions. Large groups put more pressure on their members and there is inequality among members.

Groups can be primary and secondary. This concept was first introduced Ch. Cooley in 1909. The primary group consists of a small number of people between whom relationships are established based on their individual characteristics. N.Smelzer believed that the secondary group is formed from people between whom there are almost no emotional relationships, their interaction is due to the desire to achieve certain goals. In these groups, the main value is given to the ability to perform certain functions, for example, the position of an engineer can be held by anyone with appropriate training. The individual characteristics of each mean almost nothing to the organization, and vice versa, the personal qualities of the members of the primary group are unique. Social groups rarely linger in their development. Usually they either disintegrate or develop into social organizations. The objectives of any group are longevity, efficiency, and the ability to grow.

social organization(organized group) - a set of people united to achieve any goals and conduct joint activities, characterized by a strict division of labor and specialization, the presence of a hierarchy of statuses and roles, the normative regulation of behavior, the presence of management and coordination bodies, their own system of social control, an impersonal character interactions of people with each other. A social organization is otherwise called an organized group. This social community is fundamentally different from other forms of social community. Clarity, rigor and order already reign here. Social organization is characterized by a clear distribution of individuals according to their social statuses and roles. Any socially significant interaction between individuals at a certain stage takes the form of social organization.

Rated commonality is a special social category. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that, unlike all other types of social communities, it does not arise as a result of social interactions. It is a set of people united by common social characteristics, the relationship between which is established by the researcher in order to achieve a certain social result. They have some common pattern. For example, in all regions of Russia there are juvenile delinquents who have committed the same offenses. A specialist in juvenile delinquency, in order to understand the causes of committed crimes, artificially combines them into a nominal community. Institutions involved in statistics, forecasting and prevention of social deviations most often deal with nominal communities.

Social processes (demographic, migration, urbanization, etc.) as an undesirable factor can have destructive, disruptive impact to social communities. The phenomena of disorganization are reflected in the formal structure of communities, in their functions. Thus, the processes of migration and development of cities, industry, etc. outwardly they lead to the disintegration of large families, in production groups - to staff turnover, etc., in territorial communities - to an increase in the number of migrants, to a violation of the natural age and sex structure. The disorganization of the functions of such communities is expressed in the loosening of values, moral norms, and the growing inconsistency of standards and patterns of behavior.

Among the social reasons that disorganize the personality, one can include its participation in several social communities that impose on it conflicting social values ​​in patterns of behavior. The generality is disorganized by the uncertainty of social roles, its leaders, members, and the requirements for the individual. A disorganizing influence is exerted by the lack of social control, the vagueness of the criteria for evaluating behavior. Such phenomena are associated with the weakening of the socio-psychological climate of the community. Under these conditions, social communities are often unable to ensure the performance of a number of essential functions - to supply the individual with standards of behavior, to stimulate a sense of solidarity, to provide a system of levels of social prestige and recognition, etc.

When the degree of unity (integration) of a social community (class, society) is high enough, the number of deviations in the behavior of members of this community decreases. And vice versa, an increase in the number of deviations in behavior is an indicator of the decay of its integration. Another factor that weakens social ties between people is the negative consequences of the scientific and technological revolution: urbanization, the emergence of large cities, the rapid development of electronic media, the Internet.

TEST QUESTIONS

Another important element of society are social communities. Unlike social institutions that were created deliberately for the joint activities of people, the implementation of regulatory functions in society and the functions of social control, social communities arose in the process of the historical development of human civilization and their appearance is due to objective necessity.

. social community- a group of people that has developed objectively in the process of historical development, really exists, is practically fixed, is characterized by relative integrity and acts as an independent subject of social and historical development.

If social institutions perform the function of a stabilizer of social relations in society, then social communities provide the function of social progress. Indeed, it is difficult to overestimate the role of ethnic groups and nations in established states, the role of classes in changing socio-economic formations. Social communities is a very important component of society, because all social systems and social institutions are based on social communities. The features of social communities are є:

They are formed in the process of historical necessity;

The common interests of the vast majority of individuals, it includes;

Ability to organize social institutions and social systems;

The immediate proximity of members of the community, which provides for the possibility of their direct contact

Like institutions, social communities are marked by great diversity. They can exist for several tens of minutes (passengers of a trolleybus during its movement along the route) to several hundreds and even thousands of years (ethnic groups, classes), from two people to tens of millions.

In modern sociology, it is customary to single out the following most important types of social communities:

Ethnic - communities based on kinship in language, culture, customs, traditions, psychological characteristics of their members (Ukrainian, French, Tatars, Gypsies);

Demographic - differ by sex, age, race, place of birth (women, men, youth);

Professional - characterized by the belonging of individuals who make up a particular profession (lawyers, builders, teachers);

Territorial - those that are determined by the territory of residence of their members (urban and rural residents);

Communities that differ in social status - (married, unemployed, citizens of Ukraine);

Small social groups - (family, production teams, friends)

So, communities are formed as certain social groups, in which individuals are united by common patterns of behavior, territory of residence, traditions, professional and many other features Ukrainian sociologist. V. Grodyanenko divides communities into mass and group ones. Mass communities are groups that unite individuals with similar views, attachments, tastes. Such communities provide for purely formal contact between their representatives. Mass communities include, say, football fans or the anti-fascist movement. Group social community - a set of individuals, which is fixed empirically, i.e. really exists. In turn, social groups are divided into large, where the contact between its representatives is mainly indirect (nations, professional, demographic communities) and small, whose members are in direct social contact (family, labor collective).

Social communities are also divided into mass or non-fixed, where connections between members exist only formally, and group or fixed, characterized by integrity and higher organization.

Thus, a social community is a group of people united by more or less stable ties and the proximity of the interests of its members; their social purpose is that they are the basis for the creation of other social associations - institutions or organizations, it is communities that provide social progress. Social communities, as social institutions and organizations, are an important factor in the establishment and development of social relations.

. Questions for self-examination and control

1. Name the main conditions of institutionalization

2. What are the main causes and consequences of the institutional crisis

3. What are the main features of social institutions you know?

4. Give examples of the relationship and interdependence of social institutions

5. Causes and manifestations of dysfunctions of social institutions

6. What are the main features of social organizations

7. Name the main advantages of the bureaucratic system

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