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Name: Kathryn Jacobs Semester : 5th SEMESTER, 2022 Chapter 2. Elements of Society The existence of various forms of human group unity causes that we need several terms to differentiate these various types of human unity. Apart from the most common term, namely society, there are other terms to refer to special units which are elements of society, namely social categories, social groups, communities, groups and associations. We will examine these six terms and their concepts, binding conditions, and other characteristics in more detail below.
1. Society Society in English uses the term society which comes from the Latin word socius, meaning friend. The term community itself comes from the Arabic root syaraka which means to participate, participate, participate. Society is a group of people who get along with each other or in scientific terms are interacting with each other. A human unit can have the infrastructure so that its citizens can interact with each other. Not all human units that socialize or interact constitute society, because a society has other special bonds. The bond that makes a human unit into a society is a pattern of behavior that is specific to all factors of life within the boundaries of that unit. After all, the pattern must be steady and continuous; in other words, the typical pattern must have become a distinctive custom. In addition to the unique customs that cover the life sector and the continuity of time, members of a society must also have another characteristic, namely a sense of identity that they are indeed a unit specifically different from other human units. Society always changes from time to time due to human nature. In the end, scientists provide definitions that vary from one to another. The following is the definition of society according to sociologists: a. Selo Soemardjan defines society as people who live together and produce culture. b. Max Weber defines society as a structure or action that is principally determined by the expectations and values that are dominant in its citizens. c. Emile Durkheim defines society as an objective reality of the individuals who are its members.
The life of a society is a social system in which the parts in it are interconnected with one another and make these parts into an integrated whole. Humans will meet other humans in a society with different roles, for example when someone goes on a tour, we will surely meet a tourism system including a tour agency, tour manager, tour companion, restaurant, lodging and so on. -other. As for Soerjono Soekanto stated that the characteristics of community life are:
- Humans who live together consist of at least two individuals
- Mixing or hanging out for quite a long time
- Realizing their lives are one unit
- It is a shared system that gives rise to culture as a result of feelings of being related to one another (Bambang Tejokusumo, 2014: 39). Humans have always had a sense of living in groups as a result of ever-changing or dynamic environmental conditions. These changes forcing people to use their minds, creativity, feelings and endurance to deal with it, such as in cold weather conditions requiring a jacket made by a tailor, in a hungry condition someone goes to a shop to find food, in a sick condition someone seeks treatment at the hospital to recover, to looking for fish in the middle of the sea a human needs a boat and so on. Scientists in the social field agree that human life is not static but will always change (dynamic), this condition is called social change. According to More (Narwoko in Bambang Tejokusumo, 2014: 39) social change is defined as an important change in social structure, patterns of behavior and systems of social interaction, including changes in values, norms, and cultural phenomena. A change will always be present in the journey of human life which becomes the dynamics of his life. The only difference is that these changes occur sooner or later, even if a person or group of people who live in remote areas will definitely experience the dynamics of life (Bambang Tejokusumo, 2014: 39). Even though we often talk about the concept of society in a broad sense, such as the concept of Indonesian state society, in reality, in our minds we cannot imagine all of Indonesia's approximately 230 million people. Normal what is pictured in our minds is the circle of Indonesian people around ourselves, Indonesian people in a certain location, or within the bonds of a certain group. Professor of sociology at Gadjah Mada University, M.M. Djojodigoeno, distinguished between the concept of "society in a broad and narrow sense". Based on Djojodigoeno's concept, it can be said that Indonesian society is an example of a "society in a broad sense". Conversely, a society consisting of members of a kinship group such as dadia, clan, or tribe, we regard as an example of a "society in a narrow sense". Territorial unity, unity of customs, a sense of community identity, and a sense of loyalty to one's own community, are the characteristics of a community, and the origin of feelings such as patriotism, nationalism and so on, which are usually related to the state. Indeed, a country is a form of the largest community. In addition to the state, units such as a city, village, an RW or RT also conform to our definition of a community, namely: a unit of human life that occupies a real territory, and interacts according to a system of customs, and which is bound by a sense of community identity/
In Indonesian society for example there is the concept of youth groups. This social group consists of humans who are united by outsiders based on one characteristic, namely "youth". However, apart from these objective characteristics, this social group is described by the general public as a group of people who are full of idealism; not yet bound by burdensome life obligations so that they are still able to serve and sacrifice to society; full of vigor and vitality; has renewal power and great creativity, and so on. A good general picture or stereotype about youth groups in Indonesian society occurred and developed because there were several events that were very decisive in the history of our nation and country, for example the Youth Congress in 1928, which called for the unity of the Indonesian nation, and the Physical Revolution against the Dutch colonial government. from 1945 to 1949, in which young people played a very important role. Apart from the fact whether the people who are called youths, and those who are classified into the social group called "the youth group" really have the ideal characteristics mentioned above, Indonesians generally regard the youth group as a group consisting of people young people like that. Influenced by this popular image or stereotype of youth, many young people join forces with young people of their own age, striving with enthusiasm and vitality to take actions that demonstrate a willingness to sacrifice for the "others" in society. "Other people" are usually poor people, weak people, people who are oppressed, people who are discriminated against and so on. Thus, in their heart there also arises a feeling of youth group identity for that particular individual (Koentjaningrat, 2009: 122-123). The social group of people who have the characteristics of merging a particular profession are usually also a human unit which, apart from being bound by common objective characteristics, is also bound by two other binding elements, namely a system of norms and social identity. For example: doctors are bound by medical ethics so that all doctors in a society feel aware of their class and have a social identity. Teachers are bound by norms teachers so that all teachers have a sense of group identity. Drivers are bound by driving norms and by traffic rules so that all drivers in a society must have a sense of group identity as well. A social group can also arise because of negative views from other people outside of that group. For example: the Negro or Blacks group in the society of the United States of America, is caused by racial characteristics that appear to be conspicuous and distinguish them from other citizens of the United States who have Caucasoid racial characteristics. In society there is still a unit of human beings which can be called a social class, that is layer, or social class. In ancient society, for example, there were layers such as the aristocratic layer, the common people layer, the slave layer and so on; In today's society there is a layer of farmers, a layer of workers, a layer of employees, a layer of high officials, a layer of intellectuals, a layer of entrepreneurs and so on. Such layers or social groups occur because the humans who are classified in it have a distinctive lifestyle. Based on that they are seen by others as human beings who occupy a certain layer in society. That layer can be considered higher or lower, depending on the angle of the person looking at it. Because its citizens have the same distinctive lifestyle, a
layer or social class, of course, can also be considered to have the same system of norms and that is also a sense of group identity. Although the concept of social class can be distinguished from the concept of social categories through three more binding conditions, namely a system of norms, a sense of social identity, and continuity; but the concept of social class is the same as the concept of social category, and does not qualify to be called a society. This is due to the fact that there is a condition that binds society that does not exist in both, namely special infrastructure for social interaction. All minors 17 years in a society, do not interact through a special infrastructure system that has been arranged in society. Young people, who in Indonesian society number in the millions, do not interact as a whole through a specific, structured infrastructure system Indonesian society. Indeed, there are certain youth organizations that usually have specific goals as well, such as: study goals, discuss, socialize, play sports, do art, express themselves and so on. They usually differ along particular ideological lines (such as the ideology of ag particular name, national ideology, international ideology), but usually in a society there is not a network system for all youth that is only based on youth characteristic.
4. Groups and Associations Humans in various ways always make contact with one another. Fundamentally this phenomenon shows that human life tends to always be in groups; every time someone enters into a relationship with other people, in essence every time he has formed and entered a group. Thus human life is group life. These groups are essentially formed to fulfill or achieve certain goals of its members. Bearing in mind that the needs or interests of a person are numerous, it is easy to understand if that person then lives in various groups which are interconnected and some even overlap. If each of these groups only limits itself to certain purposes, then there will be a large group that includes all the small groups that are special in nature. It is this large group that we then refer to as society, or in general terms it is called society; so when viewed from the elements of the group, society is an inclusive group in which everyone can take part in the overall life together; not an organization or group that is only limited to certain purposes. In this sense, Indonesian society consists of hundreds of millions of individuals who are bound together in a complex network of relations, and consists of millions of families, in turn, consists of various shared lives such as villages and cities, and consists of various as religious groups, and sects, political parties, race, ethnicity, social classes, economic classes, and other associations that are not limited in variety. In any society, smaller groups exist within larger groups, and individuals can be members of multiple groups at once. If we translate the English terms group, informal organization, association, and formal organization into Indonesian automatically, terms will appear whose meanings are not clear, such as associations, official organizations, groups, and unofficial organizations.. Therefore, in order to avoid misunderstanding, other terms in Indonesian are used which have clearer meanings to
