Defining Community

Abstract

 

An examination of sociological texts about community reveals many different definitions of the term.  When conducting social research, the approach to a study and its results are influenced by which definition a researcher chooses.  This paper synthesizes, from some of the definitions currently available, a broadly applicable definition of community suitable for use in social research.  Through a review of other works attempting to define community, this paper shows that current definitions of community are unsuitable because they narrow their focus to individual interactions rather than examining community through the interaction of groups.  A new definition of community is provided that focuses on group interaction within society and will allow better analysis of community both today and in the future.

Defining Community

 

            Traditionally, the basic concept used to define community has focused on individuals working together toward a common goal.  This approach to defining community makes the mistake of focusing on the individual social units formed by the interaction of individuals rather than focusing on the social interaction that takes place between the groups or organizations.  According to R.E. Park, “Not people, but institutions, are final and decisive in distinguishing the community from other social constellations.”  (1952, p. 66) Community only develops through the interaction of the various social organizations, or institutions, to which individuals belong.  Each individual person maintains membership in various social organizations whether they be personal relationships such as family or friends or business interactions such as visiting the grocery store or riding the bus.  The individuals involved in these actions do not themselves form community by their physical presence in these social organizations.  The organizations will exist with or without the individual.  Community is formed through the interaction of these organizations with the individual representatives of other organizations.  The mother riding the bus is a representative of the familial organization and the community of bus riders is formed when individuals such as the mother ride the bus.

            Most classical definitions of community contain the assumption that geography is a required element in the creation of community.  Bates & Bacon observe:

 

          …the tendency to define the community as a physical area with identifiable geographic boundaries.  This orientation precludes consideration of the essentially social nature of the community. (1972) 

The social nature of community requires that any new form of social interaction necessarily has the potential to be a conduit for the formation of community.  With the advent of computer technology, many new avenues for communication have arrived and these computer mediated communication (CMC) technologies offer new ways for people to interact and develop community interactions.   As observed by Bernard,

 

The distribution of people in dispersed social systems is not only spatial but mental. Some people are in a planetary community; some are in a national community; still others are in a community bounded by their limited interests. The bodies of people might be in one spatial area, but not their social worlds. The concept of locale has little meaning in this context. (1973, p. 183)

            While community need not have a geographic component to exist, there are some basic elements that need to be present for community to develop.  The basic building blocks for community were well laid out by Quentin Jones in his definition of a virtual settlement.  Jones states that a virtual settlement will require at least:

 

(1) a minimum level of interactivity; (2) a variety of communicators; (3) a minimum level of sustained membership; and (4) a virtual common-public-space where a significant portion of interactive group-CMCs occur. (1997)

These basic criteria can be expanded from virtual settlements to form a basic set of requirements for community in general.  First, there must be a certain level of interaction between the individual representatives of different social groups before community can develop.  Second, there must be input from a variety of sources.  Third, there needs to be sustained contact between the interacting groups.  Finally, there needs to be a public “space “ where the necessary interaction can take place.  This space could be virtual or physical.  The only requirement is that spaces for interaction exist.

            Social groups are formed by people with a common interest be it familial ties or the desire to collect stamps.  Within these groups, the social interaction that occurs is focused on the satisfaction of those mutual goals.  The cooperation inherent in these groups does not form community.  Bates and Bacon explain that

 

…the basic social processes which give a distinctive character to the community as a social entity – setting it apart as a type of social structure from groups and organizations – are the processes of conflict and competition, not the processes of cooperation and mutual aid. (1972)

The interactions between the individual representatives of different social organizations bring the type of meaningful interaction that allows for compromise and the development of community.

            The classical definitions of community tend to focus on the individual person as the source of community.  The idea is that the individual forms community through the connections that they form with others in their day-to-day existence.  The definitions are naturally limited to the geography that said individual occupies.  These definitions are short sighted and neglect the fundamental nature of community itself.  Any true and lasting definition of community needs to be flexible enough that the introduction of new technology and the opportunity for new types of social interaction does not make it obsolete.  A definition of community as the interaction of social organizations through individuals rather than as the interaction of individuals themselves  changes community from a narrow concept describing individual interactions into a concept broad enough to be useful in the analysis of society.

References

 

Bates F.L. & Bacon L. (1972, March). The Community as a Social System. Social Forces, 50 (3), 371-379. Retrieved June 8, 2008 from JSTOR database at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2577041

 

Bernard, J.S. (1973). The Sociology of Community. Glenview, Il. Scott Foresman.

 

Jones, Q. (1997). Virtual-Communities, Virtual Settlements & Cyber-Archaeology: A Theoretical Outline. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 3 (3). Retrieved June 9, 2008 from Blackwell Synergy website: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1997.tb00075.x

 

Park, R.E. (1952). Human Communities. Glencoe, Il.: Free Press.