Essay: Consequences of Division in Our World Today

Consequences of Division in Our World Today
We are familiar with the fact that society defines one another in terms of social groupings and are quick to degrade others who don’t fit into those groups.  In sociology today, an in-group is a social group where an individual psychologically classifies as being a member.  On the contrary, an out-group defines as a social group where a person does not identify.  Our society has placed a burden upon us by making us think that it is necessary and even abnormal if we do not belong to some sort of in-group.  People who do not appear to belong to in-groups are considered to be “outcasts” or “loners.”  Crowds in our world today tend to divide separately into these two groups, which can cause consequences in society, both positive and negative.
Grouping is usually thought to have negative effects on society, which can be true, it also has little positive outcomes.  With that being said, “One of the ways that groups can be powerful is through inclusion, and its inverse, exclusion.  The feeling that we belong in an elite or select group is a heady one, while the feeling of not being allowed in, or of being in competition with a group, can be motivating in a different way” (Keirns, Strayer, & Griffiths, 2015, p. 127).  There are lots of benefits to being a member of a group.  Strong leadership, recognizing how personalities affect team dynamics, and communicating with our group members are all important within a group setting.  People feel more secure when they know that they have others around them who share their goals and care about their progress.
After Lam and Seaton (2016) completed extensive research, “It was found that children developed positive in-group bias across conditions, but out-group negative bias was shown only by 6-7-year-olds in the experimental condition… Better classification skills were associated with less negativity towards the out-group in the experimental condition” (para. 1).  In-group projects have been founded to have many positive effects on students inside and outside of the classroom.  For example, group projects can help students develop a host of skills that are increasingly important in the professional world (Caruso & Woolley, 2008; Mannix & Neale, 2005).  Positive group experiences, moreover, have been shown to contribute to student learning, retention and overall college success (Astin, 1997; Tinto, 1998; National Survey of Student Engagement, 2006).  These group dynamics can allow a group to be far more productive than any one individual.  This happens when a group explores the strengths and weaknesses of its members and allows people to capitalize on their strengths.
Negative effects are involved when one is cut off from their regular group, or are discriminated from being a part of the group because of their age, sex, race, beliefs, and many other factors.  An event that involved group affiliations which caused negative human behavior was the white supremacist movement of the Ku Klux Klan, which was founded in 1865 and still comes around today.  The Ku Klux Klan first arose in the South during the Reconstruction Era, but experienced a resurgence in the period immediately following the end of the First World War.  It was a viciously racist organization that employed violence and acts of terror in order to assert white supremacy and maintain a strict racial hierarchy.  Although most of the KKK’s savagery was aimed at African Americans, their hatred primarily extended to immigrants, Catholics, Jews, liberals, and progressives as well.  The members themselves dressed in flowing white sheets, their faces covered with white masks, and with skulls at their saddle horns, posed as spirits of the Confederate dead returned from the battlefields.  The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (1957) was at the forefront of efforts to educate the public about the threat posed by the KKK.  Such anti-Klan activism was highly effective, and the organization’s membership declined dramatically in the late 1920s (p. 58).  The revival of the KKK in the 1920s was demonstrative of a society coping with the effects of industrialization, urbanization, and immigration.  Although the Klu Klux Klan originated in 1866 it is still present in today’s society.  It may not be active as back then, but they are still around.  This is just one of the many group incidents that have been associated with negative human behavior that we see every day.  They have had and still have a terribly negative impact on today’s society.
We as humans tend to relate to those that are similar to us, and tend to alienate those that we deem as different than us.  Whether it is by race, gender, culture, or religion, it is something that is almost always present in human interactions, and often times can be completely subconscious.  These ideas of classifying people into in-groups and outgroups can lead to many different social behaviors in society.  The concepts diving our world into in-groups and out-groups enable us to categorize each other.   Because of these distinctions, people are able to define who they are and what they stand for.