Sociology of Groups Humans are social by nature. Humans are
particularly adept at utilizing systems of communication for
self-expression, the exchange of ideas, and create complex
social structures composed of many cooperating and competing
groups, from families to nations. Groups are an object of
intense study not only for sociologists, but for social
psychologists, and scholars working on gender and other forms of
demographic diversity. As social beings, we all are immersed in
group settings, at school, in the family, and at work. Social
phenomena is all about groups. Groups are the context for most
social activities. Everybody belongs to a group: audiences,
boards of directors, committees, dance troupes, families, gangs,
juries, orchestras, sororities, teams, and even terrorists.
Aristotle proclaimed that humans are social animals by nature.
We seek solitude from time to time, but we spend much of our
lives in the company of other people. In most situations and
societies, humans tend toward sociality rathe