COMMUNITY AND INDIVIDUAL LIFE

• Community plays a crucial role in an individual’s life, representing the total organized social life of a locality.
• The basic criterion of a community is that one’s social relationships are entirely within it.
• Unlike a business organization or church, one can live wholly within a tribe or a city.
• Some communities are inclusive and independent, like the isolated Yurok tribes of California.
• Modern communities are large in population and depend heavily on other communities.
• The character of a community and the role of individuals within it depend on factors like territorial size, population size, local government, and economic pursuits.
• Identification with the Community:
  • People develop attachment to the area in which they live permanently, creating a ‘we-feeling’.
  • This identification becomes clear when people refer to things as ‘we’ and ‘ours’, showing the common interests of the group.
  • A strong sense of community leads to defensive reactions when it is criticized or threatened.
  • The community becomes the “home of his home and flesh of his flesh” for the individual.
• Role-Playing:
  • Every individual has a role to play in their community, such as a farmer, teacher, shopkeeper, etc.
  • This role involves subordination to the group and the individual’s realization of their function in the community.
  • Socialization and habituation in daily life help develop this sense of role.
• Dependence:
  • Every member feels both physical and psychological dependence on the community.
  • Physically, needs are satisfied within the community, and psychologically, the community provides protection from isolation and loneliness.
• R.S. Lynd and H.M. Lynd’s “Middletown: A Study in American Culture” suggests that communities share common activities despite variations.
  • Common activities across communities include getting material necessities, clothing, shelter, mating, and initiating the young into group behaviors.
• Six major kinds of human activities influenced by the community:
  1. Getting a living
  2. Making a home
  3. Training the young
  4. Using leisure for play, art, etc.
  5. Engaging in religious practices
  6. Engaging in community activities
• These activities may change with shifts in the material and non-material culture of the community.

Benefits of Community Life

• The individual benefits from community life, making achievements and progress due to the community’s support.
• Protection and security:
  • Community life provides protection, with strength in unity.
  • The individual is better equipped to face dangers and overcome problems with the help of the community.
• Cooperation:
  • Community life fosters cooperation, allowing individuals to work more efficiently in social, economic, cultural, and other fields.
  • The community plays a key role in the economic field, and community development projects are prioritized in countries like India.
• Communication:
  • Community life depends on a communication system among members.
  • Communication happens through senses, emotions, sentiments, and ideas.
  • Language, both spoken and written, has made communication easier and contributed to the advancement of civilization and the conservation of cultural values.
• Opportunities for growth:
  • The community provides opportunities for the individual to manifest their talents and abilities.
  • It helps develop feelings of service-mindedness, selflessness, kindness, compassion, perseverance, and benevolence.
  • The community encourages individuals to fulfill their social responsibilities and become more human and less brutal.
  • It supports individuals in striving for greater perfection.
• Conflicts and contradictions:
  • Community life can bring conflicts, clashes, tensions, and tussles due to greediness, selfishness, and unsocialbehaviors.
  • An efficient system of social control is needed for the community to manage these issues.