Community and society

A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such

as norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense
of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, town, or neighbourhood) or
in virtual space through communication platforms. Durable relations that extend beyond
immediate genealogical ties also define a sense of community, important to their identity,
practice, and roles in social institutions such as family, home, work, government, society, or
humanity at large.[1][need quotation to verify][2] Although communities are usually small relative to personal
social ties, "community" may also refer to large group affiliations such as national
communities, international communities, and virtual communities.[3]
The English-language word "community" derives from the Old French comuneté (currently
"Communauté"), which comes from the Latin communitas "community", "public spirit" (from
Latin communis, "common").[4]
Human communities may share intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, and risks in
common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.

Sense of community
In a seminal 1986 study, McMillan and Chavis[8] identify four elements of "sense of community":

1. membership: feeling of belonging or of sharing a sense of personal relatedness,

2. influence: mattering, making a difference to a group and of the group mattering to its
members
3. reinforcement: integration and fulfillment of needs,
4. shared emotional connection.

To what extent do participants in joint activities experience a sense of community?

A "sense of community index (SCI) was developed by Chavis and colleagues, and revised and
adapted by others. Although originally designed to assess sense of community in
neighborhoods, the index has been adapted for use in schools, the workplace, and a variety of
types of communities.[9]
Studies conducted by the APPA[who?] indicate that young adults who feel a sense of belonging in a
community, particularly small communities, develop fewer psychiatric and depressive disorders
than those who do not have the feeling of love and belonging.
Definition of community
“Bertrand has defined a community as a functionally related aggregate of people who live
together in a particular geographical locality at particular time show a common culture are
arranged in a social structure and exhibit an awareness of their uniqueness and separate
identity as a group.”

Nature and Characteristics of

community.
Urban and rural community is a group of people living together in an area fulfilling their needs by
mutual cooperation. This group may be as small as a village, hamlet, basti, chak or a mohalla in a
town or city. The condition for a group to be a community is that they live together as a territory and
fulfill the needs of their social life. It means this group is self-sufficient in basic needs. They have
houses to live. They have schools, dispensary or shop of a Hakeem. They have a branch of post office
nearby. A mosque with Madrassa and teaching of Quran by the Maulvi Sahib is also important
institution. Shops providing things of daily life, a flour Mill, Patwar Khana, Agriculture Office, a
veterinary Hospital and a Union Council Office are the major institutions of a rural community in our
society.

Community is a group of people having a common culture. Mostly they have

characteristics of a local group. They have their own social norms which are different and more
important from the norms of the general society. These local norms are the product of their local
social conditions. By mutual interaction, they develop their customs of social life. By
intermarriage they form “Biradri” and thus became a close unit which can be called as a social
system. And by interdependence upon one another they can be called as an organized group.
This, organized group of people having social system performs its social functions according to
the ways of the community.
These ways of the people is called the culture of the community. It can be inferred from this
discussion that the institutions of a community interrelated together form social structure. This
structure is very simple among rural communities and complex in urban communities.

Urban and rural communities are group of people having a sense of belonging to place of residence
creates a sentiment of community. A community has two types of sentiments. Which are not found
in other groups. Firstly, a sense of belonging to its territory, and secondly, a sense of belonging to,
one another, it means belonging to residence and to one another are the main sentiments of
community. This cohesion, among themselves is created by close face-to-face social interaction.
They all know one another and frequently meet at different occasions.

A situation of primary group is mostly created among them. Cooperation and mutual help are the
formations of mutual relationship. Similarly, they belong to their locality and have sentimental
relationship with it. They are not ready to leave their residence at any cost.

Some of the important characteristics or elements of

community are as follows:
Meaning of community can be better understood if we analyze its
characteristics or elements. These characteristics decide whether a
group is a community or not. However, community has the
following characteristics or elements:
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(1) A group of people:

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A group of people is the most fundamental or essential

characteristic or element of community. This group may be small or
large but community always refers to a group of people. Because
without a group of people we can’t think of a community, when a
group of people live together and share a common life and binded
by a strong sense of community consciousness at that moment a
community is formed. Hence a group of people is the first pre-
requisites of community.
(2) A definite locality:
It is the next important characteristic of a community. Because
community is a territorial group. A group of people alone can’t form
a community. A group of people forms a community only when they
reside in a definite territory. The territory need not be fixed forever.
A group of people like nomadic people may change their
habitations. But majority community are settled and a strong bond
of unity and solidarity is derived from their living in a definite
locality.

(3) Community Sentiment:

It is another important characteristic or element of community.
Because without community sentiment a community can’t be
formed only with a group of people and a definite locality.
Community sentiment refers to a strong sense of awe feeling among
the members or a feeling of belonging together. It refers to a
sentiment of common living that exists among the members of a
locality. Because of common living within an area for a long time a
sentiment of common living is created among the members of that
area. With this the members emotionally identify themselves. This
emotional identification of the members distinguishes them from
the members of other community.
(4) Naturality:
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Communities are naturally organised. It is neither a product of

human will nor created by an act of government. It grows
spontaneously. Individuals became the member by birth.
(5) Permanence :
Community is always a permanent group. It refers to a permanent
living of individuals within a definite territory. It is not temporary
like that of a crowd or association.

(6) Similarity:
The members of a community are similar in a number of ways. As
they live within a definite locality they lead a common life and share
some common ends. Among the members similarity in language,
culture, customs, and traditions and in many other things is
observed. Similarities in these respects are responsible for the
development of community sentiment.

(7) Wider Ends:

A community has wider ends. Members of a community associate
not for the fulfillment of a particular end but for a variety of ends.
These are natural for a community.

(8) Total organised social life:

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A community is marked by total organised social life. It means a

community includes all aspects of social life. Hence a community is
a society in miniature.

(9) A Particular Name :

Every community has a particular name by which it is known to the
world. Members of a community are also identified by that name.
For example people living in Odisha is known as odia.
(10) No Legal Status:
A community has no legal status because it is not a legal person. It
has no rights and duties in the eyes of law. It is not created by the
law of the land.

(11) Size of Community:

A community is classified on the basis of it’s size. It may be big or
small. Village is an example of a small community whereas a nation
or even the world is an example of a big community. Both the type
of community are essential for human life.

(12) Concrete Nature:

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A community is concrete in nature. As it refers to a group of people

living in a particular locality we can see its existence. Hence it is
concrete.

(13) A community exists within society and possesses

distinguishable structure which distinguishes it from others.