Assignment Code: BSW-122/TMA/2022-23

Course Code: BSW-122

Assignment Name: Society, Social Institutions, and Social Problems

Year: 2022-2023

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Answer any five of the following questions in about 300 words each. 20x5

Q1) Briefly explain the Primary Groups and Secondary Groups with suitable examples.

Ans)

Primary Groups

Primary groups are ones whose members have in-person interactions and informal, non-professional relationships with one another. They exhibit the following traits:

1. Primary Groups are of Small Size: The size of the group is crucial since it is challenging for members to develop close relationships with everyone in larger groups.

2. Primary Group Members Share Common Goals: A primary group's members could exhibit several traits.

3. Primary Group Offers its members a Total Experience: Total experience denotes that it has a wide range of effects on the participants. People are embraced for who they are completely.

4. Primary Group has Relationship as an end in itself: Members of the primary group view the connection as a goal in and of itself.

5. Primary Groups generally have Long Life: Families and peer groups last as long as their constituents do. When a member passes away or quits, the entire group disbands.

6. Primary Groups Play an Important Role in Determining the Individual’s Personality: The family and the peer group are significant socialisation institutions. They are both key groups that offer their members services, emotional support, and education.

7. Primary Groups sometimes Compete for Individual Loyalty: Primary groups look for a high level of loyalty from their members and, in some situations, may support opposing beliefs. The person can struggle in this situation to decide which group value to uphold.

Secondary Groups

In general, secondary groupings are bigger than primary groups. Secondary group members relate to one another in a formal, impersonal, and need-based manner. The traits of a secondary group are as follows:

1. Secondary Groups have Relatively Large Number of Members: Secondary groups are made up of numerous individuals with similar interests. Compared to a huge joint family, some secondary groups could be smaller in size.

2. Secondary Groups have Specific Interests: In contrast to primary groups, where relationships are maintained for their own sake, secondary groups retain relationships in order to further other goals.

3. Secondary Group has clear Objectives: To accomplish some goals that the members believe are crucial, a subsidiary group is formed. Most of the time, a single person cannot accomplish the goals.

4. Secondary Group Members Relate to each Other Formally: There is no requirement that secondary members have a close relationship because they all share the same goals. Both face-to-face meetings and communication are unnecessary.

5. Secondary Groups Play an important role in Furthering Members’ Interest: It is necessary to mobilise individuals based on shared interests in democracies like our own.

Q2) Elucidate means and forms of social control.

Ans) There are several ways to use the phrase "social control." Most people believe that the ultimate goal of social control is to force people to adhere to societal norms and standards. In a larger sense, social control refers to the management of the entire social structure with the intention of achieving societal values and goals.

Means of Social Control

The relevant authorities exercise social control in a variety of ways. The term "means of social control" refers to the strategies or tactics employed by the government to carry out its laws and ordinances.

The family, peers, and institutions like the state, religious organisations, schools, and workplaces are just a few examples of the people and organisations that are used to exert social control. Regardless of where it comes from, social control aims to keep people in line with accepted standards and regulations.

Form of Social Control

Due to intrinsic disparities in their cultural backgrounds, the nature of their interpersonal relationships, social relationships, and societal situations, systems of social control are not universal in all countries.

Conscious and Unconscious Control: The term "conscious behaviour" refers to acts and behaviours that are done consciously and in a planned manner, such as when a subordinate employee doesn't sit on his boss's chair and when his employer is speaking to him, he stays alert and attentive.

Direct and Indirect Control: The influence exercised by the social and physical surroundings, various groups, and institutions is referred to as indirect social control. The effects of direct social control are greater and more long-lasting than those of indirect social control, which are smaller and more transient.

Positive and Negative Social Control: Positive motivation for conformity on the part of the individual is necessary for effective social control. Such control can be implemented by promising rewards, which can range from concrete material advantages to social acceptance. Negative kinds of social control involve discouraging and punishing individuals for engaging in abnormal behaviour.

Organised, Unorganised and Automatic Social Control: A number of social organisations with clearly stated "dos and don'ts" for people have an impact on the process of organised social regulation of human behaviour. Human personality is influenced by unorganised social control, which takes the form of rites and rituals, conventions and traditions, folkways, and mores, etc.

Autocratic and Democratic Social Control: Lapiere distinguishes between democratic and authoritarian methods of social governance. Authorities frequently use people and material resources for their own gain and do not hesitate to commit atrocities. The democratic social control takes effect if it is carried out by institutions or authorities that the people themselves formed and if their preferences are taken into account when laws and regulations are formulated.

Q3) Discuss the impact of caste system on Indian society.

Ans) The caste system has diminished but by no means disappeared. In contemporary society, it has undergone transformation and discovered new roles for itself. The caste system has evolved and adapted to modern society at this point.

1. Caste has less of an impact in some parts of an individual's life due to compartmentalization. The caste system once had a significant impact on eating, behaviours, and social interactions, but that influence is now very little.

2. Caste Decline in the Ritual Sector Modern society places little value on concepts of impurity and cleanliness. Not many individuals think that eating or touching someone from a low caste will contaminate them.

3. In order to build a network and access resources, castes have formed the foundation. Caste affiliations are regularly utilised to access goods and services, obtain jobs and promotions, build business networks, and influence government and other decision-making.

4. Caste continues to serve as the foundation for creating and preserving an individual's sense of self. The individual's affiliation with their caste conflicts with their identification with the greater community.

5. Violence is a result of caste consciousness in caste-based society. High caste consciousness and affinity are the cause of this. A person of a lower caste is prohibited from voting, riding a horse in a wedding procession, entering a hamlet, travelling on certain roads, taking part in temple festivities, and being teased by men of a higher caste.

6. Structural violence is a sort of violence that does not physically cause harm to another person, but rather harms the individual's dignity and creates mental anguish as a result of laws and rules that have been created as a result of caste. The most heinous type of structural violence, untouchability, harms the dignity of the person who is the target of it. Additionally, it makes the person's daily life difficult.

7. In contemporary organisations, caste allegiances are problematic. People are frequently chosen based more on caste than on their own merits. The organization's productivity and performance have suffered as a result.

8. The uniform application of laws and rules has been hampered by caste: Except when exceptions are permitted by it, modern norms and laws are logically formed and apply to all citizens regardless of their social status. Modern democracies have a lot of laws that must be applied universally.

Q4) Define State. Discuss the role and importance of the state in modern society.

Ans) Any population or cultural group that is politically organised and governs itself under a single sovereign authority within a given geographical region is referred to as a state. The state is a special institution that defends the rights of an entire community or a particular segment of society. The state emerges at a particular point in social development, so understanding social development as a whole is necessary before understanding the state in particular. Without understanding the fundamental principles guiding social progress, it is impossible to analyse the state and politics objectively.

Population: Every state must have a population. The ideal population size cannot be determined with any exactitude. There is no legal criteria or political tradition that governs the minimum population a group must have to be recognised as a State. It is evident that any such regulation would be arbitrary. In broad strokes, some rules should govern the size of the population required for the existence of a State. Some have even presumed to fix precisely the minimum and maximum number of persons.

Territory: Territory is another essential element of the State's physical structure. The territory of the State includes the air, the sea, and a predetermined quantity of land inside its borders. It also encompasses a region that is three miles offshore from its coast and is referred to as "the territorial waters." The borders between states might be artificial, like fences, ditches, or stones, or they can be natural, like lakes, mountains, or deserts. As with the population, there is no rule or custom governing the extent of the land that must belong to a State.

Government: The State's power is exercised through the government. The term "government," which is more constrained, includes more than only the State. The State consists of both the governed and the government. Government is a State's established system of political administration.

Sovereignty: It alludes to the state's supreme and final power, which enables the imposition of obedience and its enforcement. This distinguishes the State from all other groups and organisations.

International Recognition: Whether a state is recognised internationally depends more on its sovereignty than its mere existence. States are occasionally referred to as the recognised legal entities by other States. A state recognises another state when its government is persuaded that it possesses state-like qualities. Recognition is the reciprocal voluntary action of one State for another.

Q5) Describe the role expectations in marital life.

Ans) Shakespeare claimed that people are acting out the drama of life on the earth as a theatre. The same can be said for unions. There are many social and cultural norms regarding appropriate behaviour for both men and women. Marriage's objectives, roles, and functions can only be fulfilled when each family member fulfils their specific duty.

Marital Roles: The behaviours that husbands and wives are expected to perform in a given society at any given moment are known as marital roles. Instead of being dictated by biology, roles are cultural inventions. By dividing the labour between men and women, roles facilitate the smooth operation of society.

Changes in Gender Roles: Do sex type roles have to be assigned according to any strict guidelines? Can the gender roles be altered? Naturally, there are no set guidelines for dividing roles between men and women. The goals of spouses and cultural differences may cause changes in marital roles. They cannot, however, run against marriage's natural objectives. Thus, we might conclude that certain marital roles cannot be changed.

Disparity in Role Conceptions: In the past, men and women had distinct duties that were established. We all live in a society that is changing quickly today. There are no set roles or behaviour patterns for men and women in today's society. The way people conceptualise roles varies greatly. Problems arise for all types of couples as they settle down to live together due to the shifting nature of gender roles.

Factors Affecting Changes in Roles: The industrial revolution, women's emancipation, urbanisation, women's employment, men's obsession with careers, etc. are some variables that have had an impact on family dynamics.