Groups and Oppression

Hypatia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 520-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elanor Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Institutional Rules ◽  
Analytic Metaphysics

Oppression is a form of injustice that occurs when one social group is subordinated while another is privileged, and oppression is maintained by a variety of different mechanisms including social norms, stereotypes, and institutional rules. A key feature of oppression is that it is perpetrated by and affects social groups. In this article I show that because of the central role that groups play in theories of oppression, those theories face significant, and heretofore mostly unrecognized, metaphysical problems. I then identify resources from analytic metaphysics that can be used to address these problems. I show that, although we should not be pessimistic about the prospects for a viable theory of oppression, it will take serious metaphysical work to develop a plausible ontology of oppression, and existing theories have for the most part failed to respond to this challenge.

Towards a computational theory of social groups: A finite set of cognitive primitives for representing any and all social groups in the context of conflict

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-62
Author(s):  
David Pietraszewski
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Group Representation ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Study Groups ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Computational Theory ◽  
Mistaken Belief ◽  
Finite Set ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract We don't yet have adequate theories of what the human mind is representing when it represents a social group. Worse still, many people think we do. This mistaken belief is a consequence of the state of play: Until now, researchers have relied on their own intuitions to link up the concept social group on the one hand, and the results of particular studies or models on the other. While necessary, this reliance on intuition has been purchased at considerable cost. When looked at soberly, existing theories of social groups are either (i) literal, but not remotely adequate (such as models built atop economic games), or (ii) simply metaphorical (typically a subsumption or containment metaphor). Intuition is filling in the gaps of an explicit theory. This paper presents a computational theory of what, literally, a group representation is in the context of conflict: it is the assignment of agents to specific roles within a small number of triadic interaction types. This “mental definition” of a group paves the way for a computational theory of social groups—in that it provides a theory of what exactly the information-processing problem of representing and reasoning about a group is. For psychologists, this paper offers a different way to conceptualize and study groups, and suggests that a non-tautological definition of a social group is possible. For cognitive scientists, this paper provides a computational benchmark against which natural and artificial intelligences can be held.

Time budgets of group-housed pigs in relation to social aggression and production

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carly I O’Malley ◽  
Juan P Steibel ◽  
Ronald O Bates ◽  
Catherine W Ernst ◽  
Janice M Siegford
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Aggression ◽  
Growing Pigs ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Time Budgets ◽  
Aggressive Behaviors ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Production Parameters ◽  
Use Of Resources

Abstract Commercial producers house growing pigs by sex and weight to allow for efficient use of resources and provide pigs the welfare benefits of interacting with their conspecifics and more freedom of movement. However, introduction of unfamiliar pigs can cause increased aggression for 24-48 h as pigs establish social relationships. To address this issue, a better understanding of pig behavior is needed. The objectives of this study were to quantify time budgets of pigs following introduction into a new social group and how these changed over time, and to investigate how social aggression influences overall time budgets and production parameters. A total of 257 grow-finish Yorkshire barrows across 20 pens were introduced into new social groups at 10 wk of age (~23 kg) and observed for aggression and time budgets of behavior at 4 periods: immediately after introduction, 3, 6, and 9 wk later. Pigs were observed for duration of total aggression and initiated aggression (s) for 9 h after introduction and for 4 h at 3, 6, and 9 wk later. Time budgets were created by scan-sampling inactive, movement, ingestion, social, and exploration behaviors every 2 min for 4 h in the afternoon and summarizing proportion of time each behavior was performed by period. Least square means of each behavior were compared across time points. Pigs spent most of their time inactive. In general, the greatest change in pig behavior was observed between introduction and wk 3 (P<0.003), with gradual changes throughout the study period as pigs became more inactive (wk 3 vs. wk 6: P=0.209; wk 6 vs. wk 9: P=0.007) and spent less time on other behaviors. Pigs’ non-aggressive behavior and production parameters were compared to aggression using generalized linear mixed models. The time pigs spent on non-aggressive behaviors were negatively related to aggression (P<0.045) with few exceptions. Initiated aggression after introduction was negatively related to loin muscle area (P=0.003). These results show how finishing pigs spend their time in commercial facilities and indicate that behavior continues to change for up to 9 wk after introduction to a new social group. Efforts to reduce chronic levels of aggression should focus on promoting non-aggressive behaviors, such as exploration and movement, after the initial fighting that occurs immediately after introduction has waned and should be implemented for up at 9 wk after introduction into new social groups.

scholarly journals Personal Life, Pragmatism and Bricolage

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 129-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Duncan
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social World ◽  
Personal Life ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Link Structure ◽  
Structure And Agency ◽  
Social Legitimation

Individualisation theory misrepresents and romanticises the nature of agency as a primarily discursive and reflexive process where people freely create their personal lives in an open social world divorced from tradition. But empirically we find that people usually make decisions about their personal lives pragmatically, bounded by circumstances and in connection with other people, not only relationally but also institutionally. This pragmatism is often non-reflexive, habitual and routinised, even unconscious. Agents draw on existing traditions - styles of thinking, sanctioned social relationships, institutions, the presumptions of particular social groups and places, lived law and social norms - to ‘patch’ or ‘piece together' responses to changing situations. Often it is institutions that ‘do the thinking’. People try to both conserve social energy and seek social legitimation in this adaption process, a process which can lead to a ‘re-serving' of tradition even as institutional leakage transfers meanings from past to present, and vice versa. But this process of bricolage will always be socially contested and socially uneven. In this way bricolage describes how people actually link structure and agency through their actions, and can provide a framework for empirical research on doing family.

Statistical Properties of Social Group Evolution

2011 ◽  
pp. 38-56
Author(s):  
Gergely Palla ◽  
Tamás Vicsek
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Time Evolution ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Statistical Properties ◽  
Statistical Features ◽  
New Members ◽  
Constant Change ◽  
Group Evolution ◽  
General Statistical

The authors’ focus is on the general statistical features of the time evolution of communities (also called as modules, clusters or cohesive groups) in large social networks. These structural sub-units can correspond to highly connected circles of friends, families, or professional cliques, which are subject to constant change due to the intense fluctuations in the activity and communication patterns of people. The communities can grow by recruiting new members, or contract by loosing members; two (or more) groups may merge into a single community, while a large enough social group can split into several smaller ones; new communities are born and old ones may disappear. According to our results, the time evolution of social groups containing only a few members and larger communities, e.g., institutions show significant differences.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 243-247
Author(s):  
James Pickett
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Social Roles ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
Regional Networks ◽  
Mix And Match ◽  
Forms Of Knowledge ◽  
Integrated Knowledge

This concluding chapter explains that for all of their eclecticism, and for all their seeming paradoxes, the polymaths of Islam were united by a common madrasa education, mastery of a canon of texts, and shared regional networks. Their curriculum went far beyond the grammar and logic emphasized in the madrasa. Even mastering substantive Islamic law from medieval Arabic texts was necessary, but not sufficient, to distinguish a high Persianate intellectual from his many, many competitors. Most of the ulama — especially those who rose to the top — studied a plethora of collateral disciplines: poetry, mysticism, astronomy, calligraphy, medicine, trade, and more. Secondary scholarship often pairs these forms of knowledge with discrete communities, differentiating scholars, poets, sufis, and physicians into distinct social groups, with the sufi-ulama dichotomy especially pronounced. However, these were not separate groups with separate corporate identities. Rather, they were discrete social roles performed by a single social group. Their integrated knowledge base allowed them to mix and match social functions with impunity.

scholarly journals Participation in social group and wellbeing status of rural women in Oyo State, Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
Oluwaseun Aderonke Adeleke ◽  
Falilat Shadefunmi Alani
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Women ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Sampling Procedure ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
Group Activities ◽  
Group Participation ◽  
Multi Stage

This study examined participation in social group and wellbeing status of rural women in Oyo State. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to obtain data from 170 rural women who are members of selected social groups. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. More than half (54.1%) of the respondents had low level of social group participation. Benefits derived from social group participation were social control ( x̄ = 1.65), access to credits and loans ( x̄ =1.35), security of goods ( x̄ =1.62) and invitation to social functions ( x̄ =1.72). Time ( x̄ =0.64), distance of the meeting venue ( x̄ =0.45) and financial constraint ( x̄ =0.39) were some of the factors that affect social group participation among the women. There was no significant relationship between participation (r = 0.126) in social group and wellbeing status of rural women. Based on these findings, this study has implications for the assessment of social groups in rural communities as they serve as strong platform for dissemination of social and agricultural information. This study therefore recommends that social groups should be well organised by engaging in activities that will improve the quality of life of rural women in all spheres, this will increase their involvement in group activities, improve their wellbeing and ensure rural development.Keywords: Participation, social groups, social security, time, wellbeing

Stereotypes and Prejudice

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Marx ◽  
Sei Jin Ko
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Social Judgments ◽  
The Face ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences

Stereotypes are widely held generalized beliefs about the behaviors and attributes possessed by individuals from certain social groups (e.g., race/ethnicity, sex, age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation). They are often unchanging even in the face of contradicting information; however, they are fluid in the sense that stereotypic beliefs do not always come to mind or are expressed unless a situation activates the stereotype. Stereotypes generally serve as an underlying justification for prejudice, which is the accompanying feeling (typically negative) toward individuals from a certain social group (e.g., the elderly, Asians, transgender individuals). Many contemporary social issues are rooted in stereotypes and prejudice; thus research in this area has primarily focused on the antecedents and consequences of stereotype and prejudice as well as the ways to minimize the reliance on stereotypes when making social judgments.

Territorial Marking With Faeces in Badgers (Meles Meles) : a Comparison of Boundary and Hinterland Latrine Use

Behaviour ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 127 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 289-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.J. Roper ◽  
L. Conradt ◽  
J. Butler ◽  
S.E. Christian ◽  
J. Ostler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Meles Meles ◽  
Scent Mark ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Territorial Function ◽  
Latrine Use ◽  
Territorial Marking

Abstract Badgers (Meles meles) defecate, urinate and scent mark at latrines which seem to have a territorial function. The main aim of the present study was to compare defecation patterns at boundary and hinterland latrines, in order to test the hypothesis that these two types of latrine have a similar function. We investigated latrine use by means of a year-round survey of all the latrines in 7 badger territories, by bait-marking of 15 territories, and by monitoring latrine use in 6 radio-collared badgers belonging to three social groups. The spatial distribution of latrines within a territory was bimodal, with the greatest densities oflatrines close to the outside, and close to the centre, of the territory respectively. Boundary latrines were larger and more consistently used than hinterland latrines, but these differences could be accounted for by the fact that boundary latrines are visited by the members of more than one social group. Defecation at latrines was subject to seasonal variation, with a major peak in latrine use in spring and a minor peak in autumn. The spring peak was largely attributable to an increase in the use of hinterland latrines, the autumn peak to an increase in the use of boundary latrines. Males visited boundary latrines considerably more often than did females, but both sexes visited hinterland latrines equally often. Overmarking occurred equally often at both types of latrine and involved animals from the same as well as from different groups, but there was a significant tendency for more between-group than within-group overmarking. Overmarking occurred mainly on fresh, as opposed to old, faeces deposits. The sex and seasonal differences in use of boundary latrines suggest that these function at least partly as a form of mate-guarding, to deter neighbouring males from entering a territory for mating purposes. It is less clear why females mark at hinterland latrines. One possibility, consistent with the observed spatial distribution of hinterland latrines, is that they function to defend the main burrow system, which is used for breeding; another is that they carry information about social status. Overmarking probably serves to obliterate the marks of competitors, which are members of neighbouring social groups in the case of boundary latrines, but may be members of the same social group in the case of hinterland latrines. We conclude that previous ideas about the function of territoriality in badgers, and about the information conveyed by latrines, are oversimplified.

scholarly journals SOSIAL CONTROL : SIFAT DAN SANKSI SEBAGAI SARANA KONTROL SOSIAL

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Bagus Sudharma Putra
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Community Group ◽  
Norms And Values

<p>Society in social life always there is a means in the form of control or control to regulate the various behavior or behavior anngota social group, It means that human behavior should be limited by the rules so that humans can know what to do and actions that should not be done. Behavior that is governed means a limit of values ??and norms deviant and antisocial. Con- versely, the behaviors that are ordered mean that they contain values ??and norms that are komformis. Prevention or handling efforts for the community not to violate the rules, then within the community group must have a set of values ??and norms is none other than to prevent or reduce the violation of the rules. This is called the form of social control. When looking at the function of social control that applies to the life of the community, is to develop a fear that someone not to do acts that are not in accordance with the values ??and norms that apply, and provide compensation for people who comply with the values ??and norms -the prevailing norms so as to reinforce a sense of confidence in society that the value is supposed to be adhered to for the life of society towards the better. And able to create a legal system (the rules are formally formulated with the sanctions contained in it). From these limitations, it can be interpreted that social control is a designed or not designed and controlled means and process aimed at engag- ing, educating, and even forcing citizens to comply with prevailing social norms and values.</p>

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