Charles Cooley: A Primary Group Analysis

Humans usually operate in specifics societies. People learn to live together, to accept themselves, to share their cultures and respect each other’s differences. Henslin defines the society as: «consisting of people who share a culture and a territory». Note that individuals live in perpetual change, through the socialization agents which include the family, neighborhood, religion, school, peers, mass media, and the workplace. They form in groups of smaller sizes that the sociologist Charles Cooley called primary group which is defined as: « A small group characterized by intimate, long term, face-to-face association and cooperation » and of larger sizes called secondary group and that when compared to the first one is « A larger, relatively …show more content…
The importance that is given to a primary group member is so high that whatever knowledge or information we acquire about this person could not affect the relationship we have with that person. For example if I am related to someone for years, I assume that I know that person, and certainly his lifestyle, his habits, his family, friends and even friends of friends. That knowledge of him would allow me to not believe anything that anyone in this group will come out to say about my partner. So, I will not necessarily have to believe or carve great importance to what I heard about that person I know well. I can even confront him to clarify the misunderstanding. Above all, people we know, are sometimes quite important and even more than what we know. It is important to protect our relationship with who we know and …show more content…
People change according to the environment in which they live, and depending on the situation they go through in life. The information is a perishable commodity and has to be updated. So, it is important to know people who will provide the right and newer information to keep us up to date. It is also important to take things with precaution as the information provided may also be false, or losing its originality. Our knowledge does not often depend on people we know. Considering the students facing the exam subjects, neither teacher, nor the books matters, but rather their own knowledge matters to enable them to have good grades. Of course what the teacher teaches them is important, but in this case, I will say that knowledge has a great importance in the social and personal life of an individual.
Through these examples lead to conclude the citation: “Whom you know is as important as what you know” it is true. In both cases, human abilities are taken into account since his birth until his decline by using all resources, from social networks which he uses to communicate with peers to his behaviors toward the