Community analysis
How do sociologists understand the concept of community, and how do social environments, such as online communities, affect this conceptualization?
A community is a group of people who share the same cultural beliefs, values, norms, and status. People in a community also share a specific geographical area. A community works together to organize their social life. According to sociology, a community can either be an urban or rural community. Recently, sociologists have changed the definition of a community (Boon and Channer 2019). This is because the stability and solidarity of a community are gradually disappearing due to modern means of communication and information technology.
Karl Marx’s concept of community
Karl Mark is one of the sociologists who have studied the significant effects of industrialization and urbanization in communities. He believes that the growth of cities leads people to accept new cultures and beliefs. Karl Marx considered the emergence of cities as tribe evolution to states. On the other hand, Karl Marx identifies a community as having limited labor division, the same property, and lacking individualism (Jingjing 2019). The communities that did not liberate were dependent on agriculture and lacked a dynamic economy.
Ferdinand Tonnies concept of community
The community concept has its origin from Ferdinand’s Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft theory. Ferdinand evaluates the two types of human association. Gemeinschaft is concerned with an individual’s roles, beliefs, and values based on social interaction. On the other hand, Gesellschaft evaluates people’s formal values, impersonal roles, and indirect interaction.
A virtual community is a network where community participants connect through social media. The social environment is a physical or social setting where people live. An online community involves members who communicate with each other through the internet. Online communities usually act as an information site where an individual can upload something while the other members comment on the post. This type of community has led to the development of new ways of communication. The online community has significantly affected the concept of face to face communication in communities (Angouri 2016). Due to the lack of face to face communication, the relationship between people in the community has declined.
Through the internet, members of a community can access information fast and easily. Negative information from the internet can result in communities changing their traditions and customs, which are considered as pillars of the community. Rather than families spending time together physically, they virtually communicate with families (Akram and Kumar 2017). They communicate through texts and social media texting.
Some of the effects of social environments are addiction and compartmentalization. The addition of the internet can affect society by damaging relationships and work. Communities with addicts can reduce their ability to carry out various jobs low concentration on the job, which can lower their economy. In compartmentalization, communities tend to identify their identities as either offline or online. Online communication connects a community to information which they may have never accessed while offline. Communities can access the internet to make their minds active so they can forget problems (Queiroz, Menezes, and Avelino 2018). On the other hand, communities can gain knowledge through the internet.
Conclusion
According to sociologists, the community’s concept has significantly been affected due to online communities and internet technologies. Through these factors, community norms, values, and culture have been rejected. Individuals in the community are now adopting new cultures through the internet. Communication between members of a community has decreased due to new communication methods. Members of the community should be advised on the importance of community cultures, social values, and norms that define them.
How can you describe and analyze an issue in a community you belong to against key ideas you have studied in SOC 308?
Rural and Urban geography and community
Rural communities have low population density. These communities are always regarded as isolated and serene. Rural communities have a very high rate of unemployment, poverty, lack of access to social facilities. These factors are as discussed below;
Unemployment arises when a community has less for job opportunities. In rural areas people have less money to spend thus businesses do not do well. Unemployment in communities causes stress which causes depression to members of the community. Communities with low income find it difficult to provide for their family’s needs (Tcherneva 2017). The inability to provide for families can cause divorce and also individuals are less likely to get married in communities.
Poverty is inability to meet personal needs such as food, shelter and clothes. Poverty can cause social tension and division among communities due to poverty. Poverty usually occurs when wealth is not equally distributed among communities (Dang, Erato, Addante and Ciciolla 2019). Communities faced with poverty live in disadvantaged areas and are not able to provide food, clothing’s and shelter to their members.
Communities in rural areas are also faced with lack of access to social institutions such as schools and health care centers. The lack of access to medical facilities can lead to increased death rates or poor health of its members (Luo, Zhang and Qi 2017). Illiteracy is also a problem faced by disadvantage communities. These communities lack access to proper educational facilities leading to illiteracy in a community.
Urban communities have high levels of industrialization and urbanization. These factors have affected communities greatly as discussed below;
Industrialization of the community is another social environment that has changed the concept of the community. Industrialization is the process that changes the human community from being pre-industrial to being industrial. Through industrialization, families migrate in search of jobs which causes separation of family members in the community. On the other hand, industrialization has led to increase of crimes in the community creating disputes and lack of peace (Sutikno and Suliswanto 2017). The life expectancy of individuals in the community has been negatively affected due to poor working conditions.
Urbanization is a condition that has diminished the concept of a community. The term urbanization refers to the movement of people from rural to urban areas. This reduces the number of individuals living rural communities. People from communities move to urban areas in search of proper education, better health care and job opportunities. Urbanization has led to reduction of the family size in the community (Kahl and Chen 2018). This happens when both the nuclear and the extended family members move to urban areas.
Case study
The Aboriginal people in Australia have been widely affected because they are a rural community. Aboriginals are often referred to as a disadvantaged community. The Aboriginals lacks social services such as medical care. This cause high death rates and poor health conditions among aboriginals. School attendance is also lows causing illiteracy in aboriginal community. Poverty is a main issue among aboriginals due to lack of employment. Poverty has led to increased crime rate and divorce among aboriginal families. As a result of these issues, the aboriginal community are often angry and frustrated in life.
Conclusion
Urban and rural geography affects communities intensively. In rural areas communities are not able to sustain their needs due to unemployment, poverty and lack of access to social institutions. Communities in urban areas are faced with industrialization, urbanization and lack of security. Communities can be improved by dealing with these factors that affect them.
Reference
Akram, W., & Kumar, R. (2017). A study on positive and negative effects of social media on society. International Journal of Computer Sciences and Engineering, 5(1), 351-354.
Angouri, J. (2016). Online communities and communities of practice. The Routledge handbook of language and digital communication, 323-337.
Boon, J., & Channer, D. (2019, January). Application of the sociological” reference community” concept to mineral exploration projects. In Geophysical Research Abstracts (Vol. 21).
Dang, T. N., Erato, G., Addante, S., & Ciciolla, L. (2019). Laying the groundwork for resilience and success: How a supportive community can protect against the effects of poverty.
Kahl, N., & Chen, X. (2018). Urbanization: Causes, Effects and Management.
Luo, N., Zhang, M., & Qi, D. (2017). Effects of different interactions on students’ sense of community in e-learning environment. Computers & Education, 115, 153-160.
Queiroz, L. C., de Menezes, K. K. P., & Avelino, P. R. (2018). Effects of virtual reality on social participation after stroke: a systematic review. Manual Therapy, Posturology & Rehabilitation Journal, 16, 0-0.
Sutikno, S., & Suliswanto, M. S. W. (2017). The Impact of Industrialization on The Regional Economic Development and Community Welfare. Signifikan-Jurnal Ilmu Ekonomi, 6(2), 231-246.
Tcherneva, P. R. (2017). Unemployment: the silent epidemic. Levy Economics Institute, Working Papers Series, (895).
Jingjing, Z. (2019). Marx’s Thought on the Concept of Community and its Contemporary Significance. Journal of Aba Teachers University.