Discussion Question: Pleaseexplain why the size of a group can impact group stability and intimacy? Please be detailed in your answer.In addition, please define each of the following key terms in your...

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Discussion Question:


Pleaseexplain why the size of a group can impact group stability and intimacy? Please be detailed in your answer.In addition, please define each of the following key terms in your own words as well as give a brief example of each:


a) Groupthink


b) Capitalism


c) McDonaldization


What are the fundamental ideas of Capitalism and Socialism? Can both exist in society? Which of these ideasbest applies to the United States? Please be detailed in your response and remember to fully answer the question.


Your response and DQ answers should be at least 250 - 300 words in length. Please be detailed in your answers to all questions and follow APA guidelines and provide in-text citations as well as include at least two (2) references. Do not attach a document, create a thread, and post your response.




Societies and Their Transformation 6.1 Summarize the main characteristics of these types of societies: hunting and gathering, pastoral and horticultural, agricultural, industrial, postindustrial, and biotech. The largest and most complex group that sociologists study is society, which consists of people who share a culture and a territory. Society, which surrounds us, sets the stage for our life experiences. The sociological principle is that the type of society we live in is the fundamental reason for why we become who we are. Not only does our society lay the broad framework for our behavior, but it also influences the ways we think and feel. Its effects are so significant that if you had grown up in a different society, you would be a different type of person. To see how our society developed, look at Figure 6.1. You can see that technology is the key to understanding the sweeping changes that produced our society. Let’s review these broad changes. As we do, picture yourself as a member of each society. Consider how your life—even your thoughts and values—would be different if you grew up in these societies. Figure 6.1 The Social Transformations of Society Source: By the author. Figure 6.1 Full Alternative Text Hunting and Gathering Societies The members of hunting and gathering societies have few social divisions and little inequality. As the name implies, in order to survive, these groups depend on hunting animals and gathering plants. In some groups, the men do the hunting and the women the gathering. In others, both men and women (and children) gather plants, the men hunt large animals, and both men and women hunt small animals. The groups usually have a shaman, an individual thought to be able to influence spiritual forces, but shamans, too, must help obtain food. Although these groups give greater prestige to the men hunters, who supply most of the meat, the women gatherers contribute about three-fourths of their total food supply (Hansen et al. 2012). Because a region cannot support a large number of people who hunt animals and gather plants (group members do not plant—they only gather what is already there), hunting and gathering societies are small. They usually consist of only twenty-five to forty people. These groups are nomadic. As their food supply dwindles in one area, they move to another location. They place high value on sharing food, which is essential to their survival. Because of disease, drought, and pestilence, children have only about a fifty-fifty chance of surviving to adulthood (Gurven and Kaplan 2007). Of all societies, hunters and gatherers are the most egalitarian. Because what they hunt and gather is perishable, the people accumulate few personal possessions. Consequently, no one becomes wealthier than anyone else. There are no rulers, and most decisions are arrived at through discussion. Because their needs are basic and they do not work to store up material possessions, hunters and gatherers have the most leisure of all human groups (Sahlins 1972; Narvaez 2013). As in the photo, all human groups were once hunters and gatherers. Until several hundred years ago, these societies were common, but only about three hundred remain today (Hill et al. 2011). Some were wiped out when different groups took over their lands. Others moved to villages and took up a new way of life. The hunting and gathering groups that remain include the pygmies of central Africa, the aborigines of Australia, and various groups in South America. With today’s expanding populations, the few remaining groups of hunters and gatherers seem doomed to a similar fate, with their way of life disappearing from the human scene (Lenski and Lenski 1987; Bearak 2010). The simplest forms of societies are called hunting and gathering societies. Members of these societies have adapted well to their environments. With the domestication of plants and animals came horticultural and pastoral societies. Many pastoral groups are nomadic, following their animals to fresh pasture. This Peul woman of Chad is moving her home. Pastoral and Horticultural Societies About ten thousand years ago, some groups found that they could tame and breed some of the animals they hunted—primarily goats, sheep, cattle, and camels. Others discovered that they could cultivate plants. As a result, hunting and gathering societies branched into two directions, each with different means of acquiring food. The key to understanding the first branching is the word pasture; pastoral (or herding) societies are based on the pasturing of animals. Pastoral societies developed in regions where low rainfall made it impractical to build life around growing crops. Groups that took this turn remained nomadic: They follow their animals to fresh pasture. The key to understanding the second branching is the word horticulture, or plant cultivation. Horticultural (or gardening) societies are based on the cultivation of plants by the use of hand tools. Because they no longer had to abandon an area as the food supply gave out, these groups developed permanent settlements. We can call the domestication of animals and plants the first social revolution. As shown in Figure 6.2, the domestication revolution changed human history. The changes, which occurred over thousands of years, touched almost every aspect of human life. The more dependable food supply allowed groups to grow larger. With it no longer necessary for everyone to work at providing food, a division of labor developed. Some people began to make jewelry, others tools, others weapons, and so on. This led to a surplus of objects, which, in turn, stimulated trade. As groups traded with one another, they began to accumulate objects they prized, such as gold, jewelry, and utensils. Figure 6.2 Consequences on Animal Domestication and Plan Cultivation Source: By the author. Figure 6.2 Full Alternative Text From Figure 6.2, you can see how these changes led to social inequality. Some families (or clans) acquired more goods than others. This led to feuds and war since groups now possessed animals, pastures, croplands, jewelry, and other material goods to fight about. War, in turn, opened the door to slavery, since people found it convenient to let captives do their drudge work. Social inequality remained limited, however, because the surplus was limited. As individuals passed their possessions on to their descendants, however, wealth grew more concentrated. So did power, and for the first time, some individuals became chiefs. Note the pattern that runs through this transformation: the change from fewer to more possessions and from more to less equality. Increasingly, where people were located within their society became vital for determining what happened to them in life. Agricultural Societies The invention of the plow about five or six thousand years ago once again changed social life forever. Compared with hoes and digging sticks, using animals to pull plows is immensely more efficient. Plowing the earth returned more nutrients to the soil, making the land more productive. The food surplus of the agricultural revolution was unlike anything ever seen in human history. It allowed even more people to engage in activities other than farming. In this new agricultural society, people developed cities and what is popularly known as “culture,” activities such as philosophy, art, music, literature, and architecture. The other inventions of this era—the wheel, writing, and numbers—were so profound that this period is sometimes referred to as “the dawn of civilization.” The social inequality of pastoral and horticultural societies turned out to be only a hint of what was to come. The surpluses of agricultural societies became a tempting prize worth fighting over. As some gained control of these resources, inequality became a fundamental feature of life in society. To protect their expanding privileges and power, the victorious groups surrounded themselves with armed men. They demanded protection money (called tribute or taxes) from others, who then became their “subjects.” As conflict theorists point out, this concentration of resources and power—along with the oppression of people not in power—was the forerunner of the state. No one knows exactly how it happened, but during this period, females also became subject to males. Sociologist Elise Boulding (1976) theorized that this change occurred Groups within Society 6.2 Discuss the main characteristics of primary groups, secondary groups, in-groups and out-groups, reference groups, and social networks. Our society, as huge and dominating as it is, can create a bewildering sense of not belonging. Sociologist Emile Durkheim (1893/1933) called this condition anomie (AN-uh-mee). Small groups, he said, help prevent anomie by standing as a buffer between the individual and the larger society. By providing intimate relationships, small groups give us a sense of belonging, something we all need. Because small groups are essential for our well-being, let’s look at them in detail. But first, let’s distinguish two terms that are sometimes confused with “group”: aggregate and category. An aggregate consists of individuals who are temporarily sharing the same physical space, but they don’t see themselves as belonging together. Shoppers standing in a checkout line or drivers waiting at a red light are an aggregate. A category is simply a statistic. A category consists of people who share similar characteristics, such as all college women who wear glasses or all men over 6 feet tall. Unlike group members, the individuals who make up a category don’t think of themselves as belonging together, and they don’t interact with one another. Primary Groups As you will recall from Chapter 3, a major point about socialization is that you didn’t develop “naturally” into a human adult. Your social experiences shaped you into what you have become. In this shaping process, it is hard to overestimate how significant your family has been. It was your family that laid down your basic orientations to life. Then came friends, where your sense of belonging expanded. Family and friends are what sociologist Charles Cooley called primary groups. By providing intimate, face-to-face interaction, your primary groups have given you a self, an identity, a feeling of who you are. Here’s how Cooley (1909/1962) put it: By primary groups I mean those characterized by intimate face-to-face association and cooperation. They are primary in several senses, but chiefly in
Answered Same DayApr 05, 2022

Answer To: Discussion Question: Pleaseexplain why the size of a group can impact group stability and intimacy?...

Ananya answered on Apr 05 2022
104 Votes
Running Head: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS                        1
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS                                    3
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
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Question 1
    The size of the group can impact the group stability and intimacy in several ways of developing different attitude towards each other and loss of transparency. According to Jensen, Whiteman and Fingerman (2018), the intimacy and stability of a group can be understood taking the example of the siblings. When there are two siblings in a family, the intimacy is much more between them which creates a stable relationship. On the other hand, when a third sibling is added to the group, the communication between the first two siblings reduces and the intimacy between them decreases though the group becomes...
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