Steve Watson

There are a number of actions in the social world that can be associated with groups as actors.

The following are actions that are associated with single groups.

1. Formation: A group is formed when several individuals come together.
• A book club is formed to pursue a common interest in literature.
2. Expansion: More members attach themselves to the original group.
• Others who share the literary interest join the club when they observe that the club has been successful for the existing members.
3. Contraction: Membership declines
• Members leave and others do not join when it is seen that the organization of the club is poor, and does not function well.
4. Persistence: Individuals join and leave
• Some move away and others join, but the function of the club is unchanged.
5. Transformation: The nature of the group alters
• As membership changes the function of the club also drifts, becoming a political lobby group.
6. Dissolution: The group ceases to operate or to exist as a group.
• All the once-members join other clubs which suit them better and no others join, or the book club simply stops meeting through lack of interest.
7. Division: The group divides into separate groups.
• Those who are interested in genre fiction form a separate book club more in keeping with their interests. The two clubs have little to do with each other.
8. Subdivision: Subgroups form within the group.
• Those who prefer one literary style hold their own meetings, but without resigning or ceasing to participate in the general club activities.

The following are interactions that may be observed between groups

1. Absorption: A group attracts the membership of another group. (Set union.)
• The book club joins a larger literary society
2. Insertion: A group provides members to another group. (Set intersection.)
• Members of the university Trotskyist club infiltrate the book club (with a view to eventually taking it over and altering its function!)
3. Disruption: A group interrupts the functioning of another group
• The book club divides along political lines and it’s difficult to get any reading done with all the infighting happening. The Trotskyists insist that all book discussions are political meetings.
4. Concentration:A group causes the intensification of the membership relationships in another group
• The film club begins a campaign against the ‘old-fashioned’ book club, possibly threatening its unhampered continued operation. The book club members are motivated to defend their interests.