Communi

Family
ty

Society
Relationshi
p
Beliefs Food

Culture

Languages
Drama/ Beliefs Language
Music

Customs
Food
Culture
Faith/
Rituals
Religion Behaviour
Meaning and Nature of Society
• According to sociologist, a society is a group of
people with common territory,interaction, and
culture. Arcinas (2016) in his book, Undertanding
Culture, Society,and Politics, defined society as
group of people who share a common territory
and culture. It is a group of people living together
in a definite territory, having a sense of
belongingness, mutually interdependent of each
other, and follow a certain way of life.
• Society is derived from the Latin term
“societas”, from socius, which means
companion or associate. Thus, it refers to
all people, collectively regarded as
constituting a community of related,
interdependent individuals living in a
definite place, following a certain mode of
life (Ariola, 2012).
• Definition of society has two types - the
functional definition and the structural
definition. From the functional point of
view, society is defined as a complex of
groups in reciprocal relationships,
interacting upon one another,enabling
human organisms to carry on their life-
activities and helping each person to fulfill
his wishes and accomplish his interests in
association with his fellows.
• From the structural point of view, society is
the total social heritage of folkways, mores
and institutions; of habits, sentiments and
ideals. The important aspect of society is
the system of relationships, the pattern of
the norms of interaction by which the
members of the society maintain
themselves.
Societal norms or rules that are
enforced by members of a
community, can exist as both
formal and informal rules of
behavior. These are the ways of
behaving that are considered
normal in a particular society.
The following are reasons people live
together as a society (Ariola, 2012):
a. For survival – No man is an island.
No man can live alone. From birth to
death, man always depends upon his
parents and relatives. The care, support,
and protection given by them are
important factors for survival.
b. Feeling of gregariousness – This is the desire
of people to be with other people, esecially of their
own culture. People flock together for emotional
warmth and belongingness. The need for
approval,sympathy and understanding to which
the individual belongs is a psychosocial need.
Among Filipinos, the feeling of gregariousnessis
found in all levels of society, especially among the
lower socio-econmic classess. The more the person
is needy, the more he craves sympathy and
understanding from someone else.
c. Specialization – Teachers,
businessmen, students,
physicians,nurses, lawyers,
pharmacists, and other professionals
organize themselves into societies or
associations to promote and protect
their own professions.
Characteristics of Society
• Society comprises of a group of people who share
a common culture, live in aparticular area and
feel themselves to constitute a unified and
distinct entity.Society or human society is a
group of people related to each other through
persistent relations such as kinship, marriage,
social status, roles and social networks. By
extension, society denotes the people of a region
or country,sometimes even the world, taken as a
whole.
Society has the following characteristics:
1. It is a social system. A social
system consists of individuals
interacting with each other. A system
consists of sub-parts whereby a change
in one part affects the other parts. Thus,
a change in one group of individuals will
affect the stability of the other parts of
the system.
2. It is relatively large. The people
must be socialy integrated to be
considered relatively large than if the
people are individually
scattered.Thus, the people in a
family, clan, tribe, neighborhood,
community are socially integrated to
be relatively large in scope.
3. It socializes its members and from
those from without. Since most of
society’s members are born to it, they are
taught the basic norms and
expectations. Those who come from
other societies, before being accepted as
functioning members, are socialized and
taught the basic norms and expectations
of the society.
4. It endures, produces and sustains
its members for generations. For
society to survive, it must have the
ability to produce, endure and sustain
its new members for at least several
generations. For instance, if a society
cannot assist its members during their
extreme conditions of hunger and
poverty, that society will not survive
5. It holds its members through a
common culture. The individuals in
a society are held together because
that society has symbols, norms,
values, patterns of interaction, vision
and mission that are commonly
shared bythe members of such
society.
6. It has clearly-defined
geographical territory. The
members in a society must live in
a certain specific habitat or place
and have a common
belongingness and sense of
purpose.
Major Functions of Society
A society is important because they have the following
functions:
1. It provides a system of socialization.
Knowledge and skills, dominantpatterns of
behavior, moral and social values, and aspects of
personalityare transmitted to each members,
especially to the young. the family, thepeer
group, the school, the church and other
government and non-government organizations
play a role in the individual’s development.
2. It provides the basic needs of
its members. Food, clothing,
shelter,medicine, education,
transportations and communication
facilities,among others must be
provided by society to satisfy the
basic needs of its members.
3. It regulates and controls people’s
behavior. Conformity to the prevailing norms
of conduct ensures social control. The police,
armed forces, law enforcement agencies and
even the church and other government and
non-government organizations exist as means
of social control. Peace and order are created
through a system of norms and formal
organizations.
4. It provides the means of social
participation. Through social
participation, the individuals in a society
learn to interact with each other,present
and discuss their concerns and solve
their own problems orrenew their
commitment and values.
The people are given opportunities to
contribute to their knowledge and skills for
the betterment of their family, neighborhood
and community. Religious organizations,
civicorganizations, people’s organizations
(PO) and non-governmentorganizations
(NGOs) do their part in community
developement.
5. It provides mutual support to the
members. Mutual support isprovided to
the members of society in the form of
relief in any form andsolution to
problems met by them. This form of
assistance may comefrom the family,
neighbors, clans, government and non-
governmentagencies, civic and religious
organizations.
6. It has clearly- defined
geographical territory. The
members in a societymust live in
a certain specific habitat or place
and have a common
belongingness and sense of
purpose.
Major Functions of Society
A society is important because they have the
following functions:
1. It provides a system of socialization.
Knowledge and skills, dominantpatterns of behavior,
moral and social values, and aspects of
personalityare transmitted to each members,
especially to the young. the family, thepeer group,
the school, the church and other government and
non-government organizations play a role in the
individual’s development.
2. It provides the basic needs of
its members. Food, clothing,
shelter, medicine, education,
transportations and communication
facilities, among others must be
provided by society to satisfy the
basic needs of its members.
3. It regulates and controls people’s
behavior. Conformity to theprevailing norms
of conduct ensures social control. The police,
armedforces, law enforcement agencies and
even the church and othergovernment and
non-government organizations exist as
means of socialcontrol. Peace and order are
created through a system of norms
andformal organizations.
4. It provides the means of social
participation. Through social participation,
the individuals in a society learn to interact
with each other, present and discuss their
concerns and solve their own problems or
renew their commitment and values. The
people are given the opportunities to
contribute to their knowledge and skills for
the betterment of their family, neighborhood
and community.
Religious organizations, civic
organizations, people’s organizations
(PO) and non-
governmentorganizations (NGOs) do
their part in community
developement.
5. It provides mutual support to the
members. Mutual support is provided to
the members of society in the form of
relief in any form and solution to
problems met by them. This form of
assistance may come from the family,
neighbors, clans, government and non-
government agencies, civic and religious
organizations.
Types of Societies
Dissolution of a Society
There are several ways by which a
society is dissolved: (1) when the
peoplekill each other through civil
revolution; (2) when an outside force
exterminates themembers of the society; (3)
when the members become apathetic
among themselvesor have no more sense of
belongingness;
(4) when a small society is absorbed by a
stronger and larger society by means of
conquest or territorial absorption; (5)
when an existing society is submerged in
water killing all the people and other
living things in it; or (6) when the people
living in such a society voluntarily attach
themselves to another existing society.
The Concept of Culture
Meaning and Nature of Culture
It was E.B. Taylor who conceptualized the definition
of culture in 1860s. According to him, culture is a
complex whole which consist of knowledge, beliefs,
ideas, habits, attitudes, skills, abilities, values,
norms, art, law, morals, customs, traditions, feelings
and other capabilities of man which are acquired,
learned andsocially transmitted by man from one
generation to another through language andlivin g
together as members of the society (Arcinas, 2016).
• Culture consists in the shared patterns of
behavior and associatedmeanings that
people learn and participate in within the
groups to whichthey belong. – Whitten
and Hunter

• A society’s culture consists of whatever it