CHAPTER III
THE COMPONENTS OF GROUP IDENTITY AND TYPOLOGIES OF
INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY
Berger pointed out that
...,the sociological critique of consciousness concerns
itself with the social construction of reality in
general, and, as such, entails the analysis of both
’objective reality* (that is, knowledge about the
world as Objectivated and taken for granted in society)
and its subjective correlates (that is, the modes
in which this Objectivated world is subjectively
plausible or real to the individual) (Berger, 1971:97).
The ’objective* reality of the Aboriginal world will be
Cxamined(CiaptersXII-XVI) using Sorokin’s (1947) analysis of the
components of groups and group membership.
The 'subjective correlates' will then be examined using
Erikson's typologies of identity.
Hie relevant sections of the work of Sorokin and Erikson
will now be summarised, and the concepts to be used in the study
extracted.
3.1 Components of group identity (Sorokin)
From within the discipline of the sociology of knowledge
Sorokin outlined the components of group identity, under the
following headings:
Membership
Mobility
Characteristics of group identity (causal - meaningful bonds,
autonomy)
Factors of continuity
Role of members of the group
Destruction of the group