Rural sociology

Dr. Subin K. Mohan, MVSc, PGD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Veterinary & AH Extension
COVAS, Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala
subinkmohan@gmail.com
RURAL SOCIOLOGY

Auguste Compte: Latin words- Sociotus and
logos
Sociology: Scientific study of human behaviour in relation with
other individuals and groups he interacts
Rural sociology: scientific study of social, cultural and economic
problems of rural aggregates.

Misconceptions
It’s a science not philosophy
It’s a science not socialism
It’s a science not social reform/ welfare
Science derived not based on general impressions but on pure
research

Importance
Understand humans and own social nature
Understand human affections and actions
Studies man and its institutions
Rural behaviour
Eliminates tragedies and emotions
Diagnose rural and social evils
Emphasis growth and change of society
Appraises happenings of society
Interprets the role in community development

Scope: To understand…
Social class
Caste
Religious believes
Social and economic background of rural people
Involvement of formal and informal groups
Differentiate rural and urban people

Characteristics of rural society
Village is the unit
Caste is the dominant institution
People lives traditionally
Caste occupation dominates
Cooperative function of several caste exists
Village is a self sufficient economic unit
Governed by religious/local traditions
Leisurely attitude towards life
Low standard of living
Its character and structure depends on caste religion and linguistic composition

Society
Community
Neighborhood
Family

It refers to tangible entities in rural society
i.e. different patterns of settlement,
special distribution of houses, available
resources and the number, density and
composition of rural people themselves.

Patterns of rural
settlement
 isolated farm stead- individual lives on
his farm with his farm surrounding him.
> Villages – Here dwelling of rural people
concentrated together with their
farmland. The number of dwelling
indicates size of the village.

Line villages – houses are located along a road or river etc, this forms the
shape of a line as the houses concentrate on the both sides. Their farm land
extend away from the road.eg Kuttanad
Round villages – Houses concentrated in circles.
Crossroads and market center settlements – predominately inhabited by
merchants. Normally these centers consist of shops.

Hamlets –Small villages
located away from
large villages or on
the fingers of large
villages.
Others- Just like villages
around a religious
place.

Family
Defined as a group in which sex relationship
sufficiently precise and endure to provide for
the rearing and bearing of children.

Classification
a) According to blood relations living together
> Nuclear family- Father, mother, children.
> Joint family- here a number of generations may
live together.
b) According to the stage in life
> Family of origin- An individual and born and
brought up.
> Family of procreation- One settled after
marriage.

c) According to numerness of husbands and wives.
Polygynous family- Man has more number of wives
Polyandrous family- A women has more number of husbands
d) According to rule of lineage
Patri- lineal family- Determination of descent and property
inheritance takes place male line.
Marti-lineal family- Along female line
e) According to rule of residence
Patri local family- one married and settles in husbands family
Matri local family- wife’s house.

Primary groups and Secondary groups.
Primary: there will be
1) intimate face to face interaction 2) informal
personal relationships 3) definite we feeling 4) A
sort of permanency 5) small in size 6) have
responsibility to socialize the individuals. eg family
Secondary: 1) Formal, contractual. Utilitarian, goal
oriented relationships 2) large sized 3) a little face
to face communication eg. Political party.

Formal and informal
groups.
Formal: it is organized, have membership
roll, definite roles, rules and procedures of
operation and rigid enforced behavior of
its members eg Panchayat.
Informal: Not formally organized, not
enforced eg play groups.

Ingroup and outgroup
Criterion for this is the attitude of people.
Ingroup: strong we feeling among individuals. Also others
also feel this and as an integral part of this group
Outgroup: No we feeling, people consider themselves as
outsiders of this group

Involuntary and Voluntary
groups
Involuntary: Members automatically form a part
of this group eg religion.
Voluntary: Membership will be according to the
choice of the individual eg cooperative society.

Reference group
This is a distinct group in which one group may
refer them for taking decisions as they may be
attracted by the objectives of these groups. There
may not be any face-to-face interaction with the
group.

Organisation
An organization is a social arrangement which
pursues collective goals, which controls its own
performance, and which has a boundary separating
it from its environment.

Functions of an organisation
Act as an outlet for individual interests-
people having common interest group
together , work together to attain common
goals.
A channel for purposeful action- it can
influence socaila decisions,efect and
stimulate socail changes.
A testing ground for new programmes- eg
NSS.

Classification of organisations
On the basis of the political structure
within which they are created.
Prescribed organisation- Partially or
wholly govt. organised and controlled
with membership usually compulsory.
> Voluntry organisation- arise from the
spontaneous expression from the
people.

On the basis of motives of participation
> Personal pleasure – recreation clubs
service-NSS.
On the basis of organizational operations.
> Open : Their programmes, goals and
membership is generally known to people
eg- Lions club
> Secret: Activities are secret eg- RAW

On the basis of admission to
membership.
Inclusive- Open to anyone eg ayyappa seva
sangam
 Restricted-eg- NCC
 Exclusive-admission restricted through
selection of members. eg rotary
interntional.

Difference between Organizations and
Institutions
Institutions
Focus on primary need
s of people.
Has more general and
broader purposes.
Organizations
Group of people
organise to achieve
specific objectives.
May operate within
the institutions.

Forms of collective
behaviour.
Collective behavior, a third form of action,
takes place when norms are absent or
unclear, or when they contradict each other.

Crowd: A crowd is a group of people. The
crowd may have a common purpose or set
of emotions, such as at a political rally, at a
sports game,or simply be made up of
many people going about their business in
a busy area.
Mob: An unruly crowd (of people)
Category: Collection of people having
atleast one common characteristic

Audience: An audience is a group of people who
participate in an experience or encounter a work of
art, literature, theatre, music or academics in any
medium.
Public: Public refers to the general body of
mankind, or of a nation, state, or community.
Social movements: Social movements are a type
of group action. They are large informal groupings
of individuals and/or organizations focused on
specific political or social issues.

Known volunteer organizations in
the AH Dept, Kerala.
Kudumbasree- -Poverty alleviation and
women empowerment
PDDP Kalady( People’s Dairy Development
Project)- to identify potential income-
generating activities in a given area and to
give it those who can take it up.

Mitranikethan- is a non-profit
organization engaged in development
activities since its inception in the year
1956. Mr. K. Viswanathan founded it in
his native village, Vellanad. It houses a
variety of development activities
specially for empowering the
marginalized sections of the society.

Norms, Values, Culture, Goals.

Norms: These are rules or guiding standards, which prescribe what is
socially acceptable or unacceptable eg. Obey elders
Techniques:- Ways of doing things where technical efficiency is the
criterion
Customs: Socially prescribed form of behaviour and transmitted by
tradition, these are accepted ways in which people do the things
together
Folkways: Approved form of behaviour for a specific situation.
Mores: Those things which ought or ought not to do
Taboo: Unwritten laws of the society
Laws: Formalized norms with legal or political enforcement, acts as a
statute of nation

Values: Refer to what people consider as
valuable and desirable.eg. Not drinking before
ladies
Goal: A goal or objective consists of a
projected state of affairs which a person or a
system plans or intends to achieve.
Culture: Include knowledge, belief, art, law,
morals, custom, and other capabilities and
habits acquired by the people as a member of
the societies eg. Western culture.

Religion: Human response to supernatural
powers
Has two components
Rituals: Prescribed manner of certain actions designed to establish
link between performer and supernatural power
Belief: It ensures the rituals will act/observed

Social Process: Interaction among people
Competition: Try to outdo other in achieving the goal
Conflict: Eliminating other
Accommodation: Temporary working arrangement among group
to achieve a common goal
Assimilation: Mutual cultural diffusion, which makes groups
culturally alike

Social change
Alteration occurs in the structure and function of society
Cultural change: Change is in the culture

Characteristics
It’s a result of interaction of a number of factors
It results in a chain of reactions of changes
It takes the form of replacement
It is environmental
It is temporal eg. It doesn’t cause any change in biological process
It involves human aspects

Process
Imminent Change: Occours without any influence of external
factors
Contact change: Influence of external factors
Selective contact change: When external factors unintentionally
influences upon
Direct contact change: When external factors intentionally
influences upon

Factors
Geographical: Climate, Soil, etc
Biological: change in functioning of the body, eg: birds converted
to an egg producing machine.
Cultural: Contact with different cultures

Rural sociology

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