Categories of Social Organizations - Types of Social Organizations

There are two broad categories of social organizations, namely, those that arise out of kinship and those that result from members' free and voluntary associations.

A brief overview of a few such organizations is given below:

Family

Of all social institutions, it is the oldest and the most universal. It is also the social organization's most normal, simplest and lasting shape. In culture, people are generally divided into distinct families and households. The husband, wife and their children are normally part of the household. It can be defined as a group of individuals, united either by marriage or blood relationship connections, having a shared household, tradition or culture in common. The family's shape and characteristics which vary from place to place and from country to country, but there is a family everywhere as a social community. It can rightly be identified as the social arch's keystone. It performs a variety of functions like emotional, biological, economic, educational and cultural.

Clan

It is supposed that the founders of a clan are the descendants of common ancestors. Normally, they carry a common surname. With the leadership of a chieftain, they are generally found among primitive individuals and members behave. They are related by social, religious and cultural rituals that are traditional. Members follow exogamy; an individual belonging to the same clan is not married to them. Every member adores a totem or a symbolic item such as a cow, bull, eagle, etc.

Tribe

A tribe is a larger social organization than a clan and has been characterized as "a simple social group, and members of which speak a common dialect, have a common government and act together for the common purpose of welfare." Generally, after a stronger clan subordinates a weaker one, a tribe is created. The tribe has a government led by a tribal chief. It is unified and has a similar dialect and language for military purposes. A tribe retains unity among its members despite being devoid of blood connections.

Community

One way to unite people on secular lines is by creating groups and alliances. A community is characterized as "the total organization of social life within a limited area." A community is a society centered on common life that is self-sufficient. A community's region can vary from narrow to very wide (even global) borders.

Association

"An association as a group organized to pursue a common interest or group of interests" is described by MacIver. Associations may be of different sorts, including kinship, social, educational, recreational, philanthropic, professional, political organizations. The government is predominantly part of society with political relations such as the state and its repressive body.