COMMUNITY - FEATURES, COMPONENTS, AND EXAMPLES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The community is a group of human beings who have certain elements in common, they tend to share an identity and come together to improve a situation, satisfy a need or obtain a common good.

The term comes from the Latin communitas, -atis which means quality of common or general. Etymologically it comes from the adjective "common" and the suffix -ity that refers to "quality of".

The community is a group of human beings who have certain elements in common and share an identity. Source: Pixabay

The Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy has several definitions that, in summary, refer to a set of people linked by common interests, political or economic agreements, who belong to a geographical area or who share other factors such as language, values, tasks, customs, world view, beliefs or social status.

The term community could sometimes be confused with that of population, but they are totally different. The population refers to the grouping of individuals of the same species in a given space, while the community groups individuals of different species in a specific space.

Another term that must be differentiated is that of association. The association is a bond established on a public convention, which obliges the maintenance of the interdependence of individuals. The community, on the contrary, supposes the natural interdependence of personal wills.

Characteristics of a community

General characteristics

The different definitions that the authors offer around the term community allow the following general qualities to be inferred:

- There is a perception of similarity of each individual with other people.

- There is a mutual interdependence between the members of that group.

- The members have the will to maintain interdependence.

- A feeling of belonging to a larger, stable and reliable social structure emerges.

- There is usually a clear delimitation or differentiation between members of the community and those who are not.

- There is a system of shared symbols and a personal investment in the group, factors that contribute to identifying as part of it.

- There may be a perception of territorial roots, proximity and relationship for a shared space. However, this feature is becoming less common in recent years.

- An exchange of personal and tangible resources is registered to satisfy the needs of the members.

- They maintain a common vision so that communication and collaboration is based on a shared meaning.

Ideal characteristics

A series of characteristics typical of the healthy or ideal community can also be identified, that is, those that have an optimal functioning. These are:

- They have multiple connections between individuals and subgroups that make it up.

- Its internal structure, which refers to the distribution of roles and functions, is clear and consensual.

- It has an appropriate physical environment for its operation.

- The interaction dynamics of the healthy community is one of mutual support, reciprocity, interdependence, cooperation, in addition to the willingness to invest personally in the group.

- Joint activities that facilitate collective life and social integration are recorded.

- Friendship, loyalty, love, gratitude and trust are the elements present in the affective plane.

- The effectiveness of a community depends on the ability to satisfy both personal and collective needs.

- There is a clear awareness of their own needs and those of others.

- If there is a conflict between the needs of the individual and those of the community, they are usually resolved in order not to destroy the psychological sense of community.

Components

The sense of belonging and reciprocal influence are components of every community. Source: Pixabay

To understand the components of a community, it is necessary to refer to the concept of a sense of community that has been addressed by several authors, including Sarason, McMillan, and Chavis. They refer to the feeling of being part of a group, of a network of mutual support and a shared feeling that collective needs will be met thanks to the cooperative commitment among its members.

This supposes the presence of 4 factors:

1- Belonging: sense of personal involvement that implies identification and also emotional security

2- Reciprocal influence: there are dynamics of mutual exchange of power between the members and the community.

3- Integration and satisfaction of needs: implies the possibility of sharing values ​​and resources, as well as satisfying the needs presented by the different individuals that make up the community, 4- Shared emotional connection: this is an essential factor for its maintenance and refers to the bond that arises from the experiences shared by the members of the community.

Examples of communities

Communities can range from very large to very small, since it is only enough for a small group of people to share interests, characteristics, needs, values, among others.

In addition, the same person can belong to different communities. Starting from this principle, we can find the following as examples of communities:

World community

That made up of all nations or states, which is why it is also called the international community. In this way, it is often referred to the association of people or entities with common interests and objectives focused from a political point of view. It is the largest type of community there is.

Scientific community

It refers to the total body of scientists or people who work in the field of science and who without the need to work directly exchange research, hypotheses, conferences and knowledge.

To be part of this community, it is necessary to dedicate oneself to a research field that is identified as scientific, and to comply with certain parameters, since the rest of the fields are considered pseudoscience.

Educative community

It is the group of people whose common interest is education, so they affect and are in turn affected by the actions and behaviors that are adopted in this area.

It is made up of directors, students, teachers, educators, parents and representatives, graduates and administrative personnel, that is, all those who in one way or another have been linked to an educational institution.

Guild community

It is the set of people who are dedicated to the same profession, trade or activity and who establish statutes or principles for their proper development. They tend to organize themselves in schools or unions in which, in addition to establishing parameters of action, they define and defend the rights of workers in these areas.

Neighborhood community

They are all those people who live in a neighborhood, city, town or urbanization and who organize to establish parameters, norms and coexistence agreements. In addition to solving common conflicts, they intend to develop the quality of life in the area they inhabit.

References

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5. Douglas, Heather. (2010). Types of Community. 1007 / 978-0-387-93996-4_542.
6. Pérez, M. (sf) The 9 types of community and their characteristics. Recovered from lifeder.com
7. Moreno, E. and Pol, E. (1999). Psychosocial notions for intervention and environmental management. Spain: Edicions Universitat Barcelona