The Concept of Community and Sense of Belonging

Essay , 2019 , 7 Seiten , Note: A

Soziologie - Individuum, Gruppe, Gesellschaft

Past studies have indicated that community cultivates a sense of belonging, shared interests and identity. Several sociological analyses highlighted that community may not have a single definition but revolves the ideas of socialization, mutualism and collective existence. This paper examines that meaning of community and sense of belonging with different contexts. The author begins by defining community according to various theories and studies, then links the definitions to the concept of "sense of belonging".

Community is one of the most important components of a broader society. As human beings advance and new civilizations emerge, the definition of community concept has also evolved. Traditionally, community was defined as a socially cohesive group of people who interacts with each other or organise themselves around shared values, goals or geographical area. However, in the contemporary world, the definition of community has surpassed physical boundaries and now encompasses the interrelationships of people across the world.

Concept of community varies depending on many factors or circumstances within the contemporary world. For example, the concept of community has been community used to distinguish segregated groups of people from others, for example black minority community, Aboriginal communities, and homeless communities. From this perspective, members of a specific community may share elements such as race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic disadvantages. Consequently, community can be described as a sociological construct characterised by a specific manner of human behaviours, set of relationships and meanings and expectations from the members.

Contents

Introduction

Analysis and discussion
Concept of community
Sense of belonging

Conclusion

References

Introduction

Community is one of the most important components of a broader society. As human beings advance and new civilizations emerge, the definition of community concept has also evolved. Traditionally, community was defined as a socially cohesive group of people who interacts with each other or organise themselves around shared values, goals or geographical area (DeWall, Deckman, Pond, & Bonser, 2011). However, in the contemporary world, the definition of community has surpassed physical boundaries and now encompasses the interrelationships of people across the world. Besides, past studies have indicated that community cultivates a sense of belonging, shared interests and identity. Several sociological analyses highlighted that community may not have a single definition but revolves the ideas of socialization, mutualism and collective existence (Capece & Costa, 2013). This paper examines that meaning of community and sense of belonging with different contexts. The author begins by defining community according to various theories and studies then link the definitions to the concept of ‘sense of belonging’.

Analysis and discussion

Concept of community

Concept of community varies depending on many factors or circumstances within the contemporary world. For example, the concept of community has been community used to distinguish segregated groups of people from others e.g. black minority community, Aboriginal communities, and homeless communities and so on (Capece & Costa, 2013). From this perspective, members of a specific community may share elements such as race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic disadvantages and so on. Consequently, community can be described as a sociological construct characterised by a specific manner of human behaviors, set of relationships and meanings and expectations from the members. Community is also discussed in terms of physical proximity i.e. neighbourhood and geographical location. Walton, Cohen, Cwir and Spenser (2012) argued that physical proximity was a necessary feature which bounded people within their communities. However, recent studies found that interpersonal relationships were the most important attribute of community. Therefore, community can either be defined in terms of geographical location or independent of geographical location. In terms of geographical locations, a community can be described as a place such as a village which is separated from other villages by a few kilometers. People who reside within the place or village have similar human behaviors to those who live outside the village.

A community can also be formed within another community. For instance, ethnic groups may reside inside national boundaries e.g. Aboriginal community (ethnic group) resides within Australian community (national community). Unlike rural communities, city or urban communities tend to be relatively different from the conventional definition of a community (Mahar, Cobigo & Stuart, 2013). For example, within an urban area, a community may consist of few homesteads with people from different origins, ethnic and even cultural backgrounds. In this regard, urban communities has more fuzzy boundaries which cannot be demarcated easily and tend to be more heterogeneous, complex and share sophisticated goals compared to rural communities. Moreover, people are increasingly recognizing the concept of territory-free or virtual communities which are not linked to any physical location (Sullivan, 2011). For example, communities can be developed through social media where people interact and share opinions and interests without actually knowing one another at a personal level.

In general, the notion of community implies sharing something, ties, interests or identity. In this regard, it is a broad concept characterised by a sense of cohesion among specific groups of people and driven by the idea of social capital (Charles & Crow, 2012). According to Charles and Crow (2012), social capital is defined as a resource that is generated through interactions of people who have developed relationships with each other based on shared values and used to attain individual and collective benefits. In addition, social capital ensures that shared values and norms are nurtured, generated and maintained for the purpose of ensuring social order. According to 1986 McMillan and Chavis study, the researchers noted that there are four factors that defined a sense of community. This factors included membership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs and shared emotional connection. Based on these factors, communities can be categorised in terms of location communities such as neighbourhoods, villages or towns, identity based communities such as Aboriginal communities, disabled persons and so on and lastly organizationally based communities such as formal incorporated associations, political parties and economic enterprises (Somerville, 2011).

Sense of belonging

Sense of belonging includes community support, cooperation, unity and solidarity with others. It involves seeing community as a symbol of certain values, norms and practices shared among members of a particular group of people. In general, sense of belonging means being similar to other people instead of focusing on activities that may contradict the popular belief with a certain group (Mahar, Cobigo & Stuart, 2013). It also involves sharing differences and accepting other people’s belief systems to create harmony and peace within the group. Sense of belonging also encompasses emotional sensitivity to the needs of others. Within a culture-based community such as Aboriginal community, sense of belonging is easy to develop due to similarity in beliefs, environmental setting and socioeconomic challenges (Halsall, 2014). Sense of belonging in these types of community is largely depended on the objectives of the people to satisfy certain social needs. Unlike community, sense of belonging is more about the quality of interpersonal relationships than quantity of such relationships. In addition, sense of belonging is characterised by strong feelings of commitment and intimacy with a goal of satisfying similar needs such as attachment, friendship or intimacy.

Basically, there are two main characteristics of belongingness or sense of belonging. First, a sense of belonging is nurtured through constant, regular and positive interactions with other people within the social group. Second, the bond between members of a social unit such as family must be strong, stable and there must be a mutual concern about one another (Charles & Crow, 2012). In this case, sense of belonging is not only about intimate attachments and need for connections but also the perception of the people regarding the established social bond is very important. That is, the people within the social unit should know that their colleagues care about their wellbeing and love them. At aesthetic level, sense of belong can also be defined using commonalities such as sense of humuor, clothing style, socioeconomic status and career objectives. According to past studies, most people prefer to relate to those that are similar to them or give them the feeling that they are similar. People also tend to relate to those people that they think understand them. In some cases, the need to belong to a particular group can force an individual to change their actions, attitudes and behaviors so as to be similar to others. The tendency to conform to certain norms and values are normally attributed to direct and indirect social pressures from within the group or within the whole society (Cortina, Sari, & Smith-Darden, 2017). Finally, sense of belonging is sustained with a strong desire to form and maintain social bonds based on powerful human motives.

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• Hochschule: Kenyatta University
• Note: A
• Autor: Difrine Madara (Autor:in)
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2019
• Seiten: 7
• Katalognummer: V504364
• ISBN (eBook): 9783346047700
• ISBN (Buch): 9783346047717
• Sprache: Englisch
• Schlagworte: concept, community, sense, belonging