Social Cohesion

Definition: As used herein, Social Cohesion refers to the Bonds of Affection Members of a Group feel and express toward one another. Aspects of these Bonds of Affection include but are not limited to (1) relevant Habits and Traditions, (2) Skillful Actions, including Love, Courage, Conversation, and Voluntary Helpfulness, (3) the Mission of which Habits, Traditions, and Actions is to accommodate whatever Conditions and Solve whatever Problems Group Members may encounter (4) in pursuit of the Adequate satisfaction of their Needs while (5) giving Due Regard to other Places, Individuals, Households, Groups, and Organizations.

Related terms: Action | Aspect | Condition | Conversation | Due Regard | Group | Habit | Household | Individual | Love | Member | Mission | Problem | Skill | Tradition | Voluntary Helpfulness | Bonds of Affection | Courage | Solve | Adequate | Needs | Place | Organization

Commentary Lincoln pleaded, We "must not break our bonds of affection." Sources of this data (1) Parallel military and civilian concepts.  In the military, "small unit cohesion" in combat is an intense, parallel example of Social Cohesion. (Please read the military journal article about small unit cohesion.) What I am talking about here is civilian life. Nevertheless, I draw your attention to small unit cohesion in the military because civilian Conditions and Problems can be severe. For example, American slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction and Jim Crow were severe periods in American history, the residue of which continues to the present day. Concentrated severe Conditions and Problems still happen today - for example, inner-city poverty and natural disasters. (2) Limited to small Groups - Not an abstraction.  Notice from the military journal article that small unit cohesion applies most intensely to 13 people in a squad and possibly to the platoon (3 squads) of which the squad is a part.  To a person in combat, a larger unit such as a company (3 platoons) is an abstraction and "higher headquarters" a complete abstraction.  In parallel fashion, the civilian Special Term "Social Cohesion" is limited to Groups with a Membership less than Dunbar's Number or about 150 people. For larger "groups" or for a Population of people, see the concept of Social Capital. (3) A real phenomenon. Social Cohesion is developed and maintained "through a Category of Events that include Conversation and Voluntary Helpfulness." It is an observable phenomenon in human behavior and relationships. It is not Utopian.  Like military small unit cohesion, where Social Cohesion exists, it is a fact. It exists in degrees. Members of a Group with a high degree of Social Cohesion feel better known, Loved and helped and have greater opportunities to know, Love and help others than would be the case if they were Members of a marginally Socially Cohesive Group or were living as Individuals or Households amid a Fragmented Population. Social Cohesion is a matter of better, not perfection. (4) Oriented towards problem-solving.  Social Cohesion is not sufficient for a Group to "accommodate whatever Conditions and Solve whatever Problems they may encounter." Other factors such as skills and financial resources may be important, too.  Rather, Social Cohesion "helps" to accommodate Conditions and to Solve Problems - Ordinary, Extraordinary and Super Extraordinary Problems. Emotional well-being Bonds of affection Are essential Arguments In this section I apply the concept of "Social Cohesion" to three Propositions (1) Adequate Social Cohesion is a fundamental human Need. The military journal article argues that small unit cohesion is not optional in combat.  It is essential if the soldiers are to survive. From birth to death, Adequate Social Cohesion is essential to the development and maintenance of an Individual's emotional well-being. It is a fundamental Need that has developed in humans over many hundreds of thousands of years.  See Wikipedia articles on "affectional bonds," "attachment theory" and "emotional well-being."  In the absence of Adequate Social Cohesion, Individuals suffer severely regardless of socioeconomic status. (2) Social Cohesion Adequacy requires a Critical Mass of Members.  While Social Cohesion begins within a Household (mother-child, father-child, mother-father, among spouses, partners, siblings, roommates and so on), a socio dynamic Critical Mass of people beyond the Household who are empathetic with the rights, Needs, and Wants of Household Members is necessary to achieve and sustain Adequate Social Cohesion - hence I emphasize Socially Cohesive Groups. (3)  The U.S.A. requires Adequate Social Cohesion to endure.  I use the phrase "bonds of affection" in the definition of Social Cohesion to echo specifically President Abraham Lincoln in his First Inaugural wherein he pleaded with his countrymen to pull back from the impending Civil War that would - if successful - destroy the Union. Stretching the concept of Social Cohesion to cover the entire nation, the absence of Social Cohesion was terrible during the Civil War era and can be terrible now. President Lincoln closed his First Inaugural with these words: "I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." References - Contrast Social Cohesion with Social Fragmentation. Compare it to Social Capital. See group cohesiveness in Wikipedia. Revised 10-13-13